Song of Storms
by Crystal Rose of Pollux
Summary: Reunited with Zoe and Victoria, the Doctor and Jamie find themselves at UNIT. When a flash storm appears out of nowhere and starts growing out of control, it's clear that Salamander is up to his old tricks again. Salamander isn't working alone, but as he quickly finds himself in over his head, it's soon up to everyone to stop a disaster that will occur in 3 days' time.
1. Dawn of the First Day

_Notes: the characters aren't mine, and the story is! This is meant to be chapter one of my birthday gift to Pat; knowing how much he enjoyed playing Salamander, I wanted to bring Salamander back into a fic. This fic was also largely inspired by _The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask_, but I've worked out the details of the fic to ensure that prior knowledge of the game is not necessary to enjoy this fic. Also, this is a Season 6B fic, and as for why Zoe and Victoria are back, that is explained in the last few chapters of my Jamie drabble series "Those Who Help Us Most to Grow."_

* * *

It had been a long, long time since the TARDIS was this crowded, Jamie McCrimmon realized as he looked around at the others standing with him in the console room. The Scotsman had to admit to himself that he didn't think that the TARDIS ever would have been this crowded again.

Oh, sure; the Time Lords had _said_ that he and the Doctor could travel with Zoe and Victoria again if they managed to deal with the Whispermen that had invaded various regions of time and space. But Jamie had long since known not to trust those "space crocodiles," as he called them. Nevertheless, he was astounded when, after stopping the Whispermen (along with the Great Intelligence, which had been controlling them), the Time Lords stayed true to their word.

Jamie had to admit that after nearly ten years of just being him and the Doctor alone in the TARDIS, it was odd to have others around again. He barely recognized Zoe and Victoria—they had both grown, as Jamie himself had. And Victoria, having lived in the 1960s all this time, had modernized herself completely in line with that era, looking nothing like the girl Jamie had met in Victorian London; this had, initially, caused a lot of confusion for the Doctor, who accidentally called her "Dodo" a few times before he finally reestablished Victoria's new dress style with her identity.

Still, it was also nice to have them around again. And Jamie noticed that he often ended up with a considerable amount of time alone with the Doctor anyway, as Zoe and Victoria found ways to keep each other entertained—though most of it seemed to be swapping stories about some of the sillier things that Jamie and the Doctor had done.

The Doctor certainly enjoyed the company, of course—the crowded console room, the crowded table at mealtime, and the giggles that often greeted him and Jamie as the girls noticed them entering a room they were in.

"…Doctor, are they laughing at us?" Jamie had asked him.

"I can guarantee it," the Doctor had answered.

The Doctor certainly didn't mind being laughed at, and as the TARDIS traveled aimlessly through the Time Vortex, with the four of them chatting casually over breakfast, Jamie had to admit that he didn't really mind it, either.

The TARDIS eventually decided to land herself as they were putting the dishes away. The Doctor took a look on the console display before smiling.

"It's quite alright," he said. "We've landed in England—in the 1970s." He blinked, pausing as the display kept switching back and forth. "…Or is it the 80s? …Well, it's one of the two, anyway."

The Doctor waved a hand in dismissal and opened the doors, allowing the three humans to leave first. They found themselves in a laboratory, and Jamie was quick to point out that there were some papers with notes jotted down in rather sloppy Gallifreyan.

"This is yer writing, Doctor," the piper pointed out. "And I recognize the building now; it's UNIT Headquarters."

"Oh, dear…" the Doctor said, frowning. "I wanted us to have a pleasant getaway, and it looks as though we're stuck with Old Fancypants again!"

"Ah, the tall one?" Jamie asked. "He was verra nice t' me the last time we were here. Ye'll like him, Victoria."

"Will I?"

"Aye—he's a real gentleman, always well-dressed—"

"He's an insufferable dandy!" the Doctor fumed.

"Och, relax; ye know ye're my favorite one of ye," Jamie teased, drawing an arm around the Doctor.

"Well…" the Doctor said, cheering up. "That's more than enough for me."

"Five hundred years old, and he acts like a child sometimes," Zoe murmured under her breath.

"You have no idea; you weren't there that day we went to the seaside," Victoria murmured back with a smirk.

The door to the laboratory now opened, revealing Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.

"So, Doctor, you're finally back… Good Lord, it's _you_!" he exclaimed, obviously not expecting this version of the Doctor. He then did a double-take as he noticed the others. "And McCrimmon, Miss Heriot, and Miss Waterfield!"

They all took turns greeting the Brigadier, as the Doctor mulled over the Brigadier's words.

"Am I to understand, then, that my other self isn't here at the moment?"

"Afraid not; ever since the Omega incident, it's been difficult keeping him tied down here. He's actually been gone several weeks now; he and Miss Grant are off somewhere into the unknown."

The Doctor laughed, clapping his hands together.

"Brigadier, that is the best possible news you could have given me!" he exclaimed. "I do believe that I shall find this diversion quite enjoyable."

"Hopefully, you shall," the Brigadier said. "Other than some odd happenings, it's been rather quiet here as of late."

"Odd happenings?" Zoe asked.

"Well, there have been no Cybermen wandering about," he assured her. He turned to Victoria before adding, "Or Yetis."

Jamie involuntarily cringed at the mention of the Yetis before reminding himself that stopping the Doctor from draining the Great Intelligence may have caused problems later on with the Whispermen, but doing so had also prevented the Doctor from being corrupted by it, as a stumble into an alternate timeline had so cruelly taught Jamie.

"Then what _has_ been happening?" Victoria inquired.

"It's nothing of importance right now," the Brigadier said, hastily.

The Doctor didn't seem to be satisfied with this explanation.

"Nevertheless…" he began.

"Doctor, I assure you, if it was something that was an emergency, we'd have done our best to get back in touch with you sooner," the Brigadier assured him. "Now that we've settled that, may I suggest that we have breakfast?"

"We just ate," Victoria began, only to be interrupted by Jamie.

"Aye, but we'll eat anything, if ye've got it!"

"Jamie…!" Victoria chided.

"He hasn't changed either," Zoe mused, as the Brigadier now led them to the UNIT mess hall. "Tell me, Brigadier, is Isobel around?"

"She's on holiday in the Caribbean; she'll be disappointed that she missed you."

"Oh," Zoe said, equally disappointed. "Well, I'm sure she'll be getting a lot of great pictures there."

Benton was already eating when they arrived at the mess hall; he greeted them warmly as Jamie now began filling a tray with food.

The Doctor, on the other hand, was willing to try again to get the Brigadier to divulge something of what was going on.

"Brigadier, are you entirely certain—?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Doctor, but Miss Heriot and Miss Waterfield have never traveled with you at the same time, correct?"

"Well, yes, that is correct, but that isn't quite what I wanted to discuss with y—oh, my word!"

This time, the Doctor found himself interrupted by a crack of thunder as lightning appeared outside the mess hall window; the sky, which had, only moments before, been bright blue, was now clouded over with thick, dark stormclouds. Rain was pouring in torrents, and a violent wind was howling all around them, tossing dustbins and anything else outside that wasn't nailed down.

The shock of all of this happening so suddenly was only surpassed by the reactions from the UNIT personnel present in the room. Several were just shaking their heads in resignation while Benton just facepalmed; the Brigadier, for his part, let out a heavy sigh before saying just one word—

"…_Again_…?"

As Jamie and the girls exchanged baffled glances, the Doctor now turned to the Brigadier with a look of suspicion.

"I take it this was what you referred to when you mentioned those 'odd happenings' earlier?"

"Yes," the Brigadier admitted. "These flash storms have been happening every few days since your other counterpart left. They last only about five or ten minutes at a time—and, somehow, occur only over UNIT HQ. As you can see by the general reaction, they are more a nuisance than anything else."

"But, Sir?" Benton asked. "What about the messages?"

The Brigadier gave him a silencing glare, prompting the Doctor to inquire further into the matter.

"It is no concern of yours, Doctor," the Brigadier insisted.

"Since I am here now, it would seem that it is a concern of mine!" the Doctor quipped back. "Suppose I want to take a nice little jaunt outside? This would ruin my plans; it's no fun trudging through the rain, you know!"

"Aye, and what this aboot messages?" Jamie asked.

"Yes, is someone telling you something about these storms?" Victoria queried.

"And how can there possibly be a flash storm here and only here?" Zoe added. "That is a scientific anomaly!"

"Good Lord, you're all in this together, aren't you?" the Brigadier sighed. "Very well; yes, there _have_ been messages sent to our computers after these storms, claiming that the storms are manmade and intentionally designed to irk us and only us, and asking for various demands to be met, lest the storms continue. And before you ask me how, I may as well tell you that we're all baffled by this."

"I see…" the Doctor said. "And because it was merely an annoyance, you decided that it wasn't necessary to seek my help?"

"…Yes."

The Brigadier's hesitance in his reply didn't escape the Doctor; the Time Lord's eyes narrowed.

"You have attempted to track these messages, haven't you?" Zoe queried.

"Of course we have," the Brigadier stated. "We haven't had any luck with it; by all accounts, whoever is sending those messages doesn't even exist!"

"Now we all know that isn't possible," the Doctor said.

"Aye, they have t' come from somewhere," Jamie agreed, still carrying his tray of food with him. "I know that much aboot computers…"

"Shall I go and wait for the message, Sir?" Benton asked.

"No; I'll go see to it myself," the Brigadier said. "With any luck, we might be able to trace the communication this time as it comes in."

"Right, Sir."

The Brigadier now headed for the door, pausing as he heard four sets of feet following him.

"Oh, very well," he sighed. "The messages are always sent to our central computer; that's where we're headed now."

"I must say, it is quite a feat to send an untraceable message to a UNIT computer," Zoe mused. "Especially since the internet would be in its most rudimentary stages."

"Internet?" Victoria asked.

"It's something future people cannae live withoot," Jamie said, wisely. "The TARDIS has it—when I rejoined the Doctor, he gave me this…" He balanced his food tray in one hand and pulled his smartphone from his sporran with the other. "Ye can go on the internet with this wee gadget and look up videos of people playing bagpipes."

"Among other things," Zoe added.

"Do you mean to tell me that tiny thing has internetworking capabilities?" the Brigadier inquired, looking at the smartphone with interest. "And that its usage has become that commonplace."

"Yes, and completely wireless," Zoe said. "Of course, it won't work here, since there is no wireless capability, but you can take my word for it. In fact, that device in Jamie's hand has more processing power than your central computer."

"What won't they think of next…?" the Brigadier mused.

"As intriguing as it is to discuss the future of internetworking," the Doctor said. "I still wish to know more about these demands that you referred to."

"The majority of those demands involve money," the Brigadier informed him. "Whoever this miscreant is, they intend to line their own pockets with UNIT funds, and have been demanding six-figure sums."

"Aye, and, naturally, ye willnae give them the money," Jamie finished.

"Certainly not," the Brigadier insisted. "We don't bend to the demands of anyone trying to extort money from us."

"And… what else was included in these demands?" the Doctor asked. "You said only the majority of the demands involved money."

"Yes; that's correct."

"Well, out with it!" the Doctor insisted. "I cannot possibly help if you do not give me all of the facts!"

"We don't need your help for every little thing, Doctor!" the Brigadier insisted.

"Maybe not, but I still feel as though I could be helpful in some way! What else are they demanding!?"

The Brigadier sighed again before turning around to face the Doctor.

"_You_," he stated, simply. "They're demanding that we hand you over to them."


	2. The Lightning that Strikes the Earth

_Notes: Zoe's interaction with Salamander (which the Doctor refers to as the incident with the extraterrestrial colony) happened in a fic I wrote called "Prisms of No Color."_

* * *

There was a minute of stunned silence in the corridor.

"Aye," Jamie said. "Now I understand why ye di'n call the Doctor aboot this; ye di'n want him t' be here if he could help it because ye di'n want whoever was behind this to get their hands on him."

"Exactly," the Brigadier said. "And the last thing I wanted was for the Doctor to get any ideas of giving himself up—something which he has a history of doing."

"Well, now that you mention it…" the Doctor began.

"Absolutely not!" the Brigadier insisted. "This isn't a situation that calls for it, and even if it did, I wouldn't stand for it!"

"Aye, neither would I!" Jamie said, fiercely.

"I was going to suggest something else, but, anyway…" the Doctor sighed. "Very well, then, Brigadier; you say you've got the situation under control. Just what exactly are you doing to deal with it?"

"As I said, we're attempting to trace the messages as they come in."

"But you said that you weren't able to," Victoria pointed out. "If it's not working, then shouldn't you try something else?"

"It's only a matter of time until we succeed. Our equipment is state of the art…" the Brigadier began, but trailed off as Zoe tutted quietly. "I don't suppose you have any ideas, Miss Heriot?"

"Well, since I'm here, I was wondering if you'd like me to attempt tracing the message when it comes in," she said. "Your equipment may be fair for its day, but I have the knowledge of advanced programming techniques that might help me exploit some things that your technicians couldn't even dream of."

The Brigadier pondered over this.

"Also, do keep in mind that my knowledge base has increased since the last time we met," Zoe added.

"Very well, Miss Heriot; I shall let you work your magic," he conceded. "This way, please…"

He led the way to the central computer room; there was already someone at the computer console, who saluted the Brigadier as he arrived.

"Anything yet?" the Brigadier inquired.

"Nothing, Sir," the technician replied. "It'll be almost time for the rain to stop and the message to come in."

"Good. Miss Heriot will be taking over to attempt to trace the message."

The technician cast a wary look at Zoe as she stepped forward.

"Sir…?"

"Would you mind carrying on your conversation with the Brigadier away from the console so that I may work?" Zoe asked, feigning politeness. She gave a forced, polite smile as the technician stepped away. "Thank you."

The Doctor merely chuckled to himself as Jamie just shook his head. Victoria, on the other hand, was looking at Zoe in admiration.

"I wish I carried myself half as confidently as she does," she whispered to Jamie.

"Confident? Och, when she gets going, she can be a right know-it-all," the piper muttered back.

"Well, then, I'm glad she traveled with you after I left," Victoria retorted. "You needed to be around someone like her. And it sounds as though you still do."

"Och, sometimes, ye lassies can really—"

"Jamie, I suggest you put the brakes on that train of thought this instant," the Doctor chided. "Or else you'll find yourself at the receiving end of a tongue-lashing that I _will not_ rescue you from."

Jamie got the message and kept quiet; the Brigadier politely ignored this all-too-audible argument and focused on Zoe's work at the computer.

"Anything?" he asked.

"Nothing new has come in yet," Zoe informed him. "But I'm going over the old messages. Whoever it is certainly wasted no time in making his demands clear. He's been demanding a million pounds and the Doctor's surrender since the first message, or else he'll continue with these flash storms."

"Well, it's clearly personal," the Doctor sighed. "Unfortunately, that doesn't narrow it down at all; there's a rather long list of people, aliens, and organizations that I've managed to anger."

"Aye, ye can say that again…" Jamie snarked.

The computer started beeping.

"Incoming message," Zoe announced. "And, thankfully, I'm ready to trace it…"

Within a minute, it was all over, and a stunned expression crossed the astrophysicist's face.

"…But that's _impossible_!" she exclaimed.

"Zoe, what is it?" the Doctor asked, as they rushed to her side.

"The trace didn't work?" the Brigadier asked.

"Oh, it worked," Zoe assured him. "But the results are impossible."

"Perhaps ye made a mistake?" Jamie mused, prompting Victoria to elbow him in the ribs.

"You don't have to sound so smug about it," she scolded.

"I didn't make a mistake," Zoe insisted. "I'm just trying to come up with an explanation for why the sending terminal is an iPad!"

Everyone in the room looked puzzled, except for the Doctor.

"An iPad?" he repeated. "Zoe, are you quite certain?"

"Yes!" she said. "Whoever has been sending these messages to the central computer here has been doing so with an iPad—despite the fact that iPads don't even exist in this time! I checked it, and I attempted to break into the sending terminal. The data that I saw was consistent with an iPad—app data, photographs, videos, and everything else you'd expect to find on an iPad!"

"Could you possibly translate this into terms that the rest of us can follow?" the Brigadier asked.

"Oh, yes, of course," the Doctor said, turning to them. "Well, it seems as though this mysterious weather controller is sending messages from a device that exists in the future. Do all the messages have the same source, Zoe?"

"I believe so," she said.

"Do you honestly believe that to be true, Doctor?" the Brigadier asked.

"Well, it was Sherlock Holmes who said, 'Once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.' And so, this must be the truth," the Doctor finished.

"Then there _is_ a way for someone t' be sending all these messages from the future?" Jamie asked.

"Either from the future, or, more likely, from here, using a data cloud in conjunction with the time vortex," the Doctor said. "Zoe, was there anything in that iPad data that could give us a clue as to who is sending the messages?"

"I don't know," she said. "It seems to be mostly weather-predicting apps, some encrypted data, and…" She blinked in surprised. "…Apps in Spanish."

"…Of course," the Doctor said, shaking his head. "I should have realized sooner. Who else could be controlling the weather _and_ have a vendetta against me?"

"Salamander!?" Jamie, Zoe, and Victoria all exclaimed at once.

The Brigadier still looked puzzled, and Victoria now looked to Zoe.

"Hold on; how did you know about Salamander?" she asked.

"I had the great misfortune of meeting him when he tumbled out of the time vortex and stirred up trouble on an extraterrestrial colony," Zoe explained.

"Aye; he nearly killed all of us!" Jamie exclaimed.

"It's uncanny, how much he resembles the Doctor," Zoe added.

"Isn't it!?" Victoria exclaimed. "Jamie and I couldn't even tell them apart—it nearly led to disaster!"

"Oh, I know," Zoe said, nodding emphatically. "I made that mistake, too; if I hadn't realized at the last second that his body temperature was human instead of Gallifreyan—"

"As much as I'd hate to interrupt your reminiscing," the Brigadier said. "You all seem to have the advantage over me. Who, exactly, is Salamander?"

"He's a genius who, through some bizarre coincidences, looks exactly like me," the Doctor explained. "There's no use asking me how; I don't understand it myself. Confidentially speaking, I have trouble keeping track of faces."

"Aye, ye certainly do!" Jamie insisted. "Even _my_ face—!"

"Now is not the time to bring that up, Jamie," the Doctor said, flatly, before turning back to the Brigadier. "Salamander had, amazingly, found out how to harness the forces of nature, but he used this knowledge for his own selfish purposes."

"Naturally, you didn't stand for that, and you threw a spanner into the works?" the Brigadier finished.

"Yes, quite," the Doctor admitted, with a guilty grin. "After I impersonated him, he attempted to impersonate me and lie his way into the TARDIS."

"Jamie let him in," Victoria added, prompting Jamie to let out an indignant squawk.

"I di'n see ye telling me that it wasnae him—ye thought it was him, just as I did! And e'en Zoe said that she was fooled, too!"

"Anyway, Salamander attempted to start the TARDIS, but he left the doors open," the Doctor said, now talking over Jamie and the girls as they argued. "And, as a result of that, he got pulled into the time vortex. He ended up on an extraterrestrial colony where he once again proceeded to use his knowledge for personal gain—prompting me to throw another spanner in the works."

"I see," the Brigadier said. "Well, then it's safe to assume that he's got a rather painful fate in store for you."

"Oh, let him try," the Doctor said, waving a hand in dismissal.

"Aye, let him try!" Jamie echoed, as his eyes flashed in determination. "If he so much as lays a hand on the Doctor, I'll—!"

A particularly loud rumble of thunder cut him off, prompting Zoe to look back at the computer screen in confusion.

"Well, that's odd…" she muttered. "By the tone of this latest message Salamander sent, it was meant to be sent after this particular flash storm had stopped, and yet, the storm is still going on."

"What do you mean?" the Doctor asked.

"Well, look. 'I have given you yet another little taste of what you will receive if you do not surrender the Doctor and the million pounds. You shall receive another taste this time tomorrow.' But it's still raining."

"Perhaps a wee glitch in the system?" Jamie asked, pleased that he remembered the correct terminology.

"Perhaps…"

If Zoe had been thinking of another possibility, they would never know; someone now dashed into the central computer room, soaking wet and a look of panic on his face.

"What is it, Yates?" the Brigadier inquired, as he returned the captain's salute.

"The storm outside, Sir; it's spreading!"

"Spreading?"

"Yes, Sir; up until a minute ago, the storm was staying within the boundaries of all the other ones this fellow sent," Yates explained, breathlessly. "About a minute ago, it started spreading from all directions at incredible speeds; the storm spread past the entire visible horizon within twenty seconds!"

"Well, that settles it," the Doctor sighed. "I must meet with Salamander and convince him to stop this madness."

Jamie and the girls immediately protested at the top of their voices until the Brigadier called for quiet.

"Doctor, I'm afraid I have to agree with them," the Brigadier insisted. "I cannot allow you to surrender yourself."

"Who said anything about surrendering?" the Doctor asked. "Salamander doesn't have a security force or a mob at his disposal this time."

"Are you suggesting that you're going confront him one-on-one!?" the Brigadier exclaimed.

"Oh, it won't be one-on-one," the Doctor assured.

"Aye, I'll say it won' be; I'll be right there by the Doctor's side!" the piper vowed.

"I'm sure you will," the Doctor said, with a smile. "But I wasn't referring to you, either, Jamie. I mean that Salamander won't be working alone, either. He may not have a mob or and army, but he is most definitely not alone."

"How can you be certain?" Victoria asked.

"Even with all of his knowledge, there is no possible way that Salamander could harness a data cloud in conjunction with the time vortex on his own," the Doctor stated. "Human intelligence has its limits."

"So someone is aiding him," Zoe finished. "And allowing him to use this method."

"Exactly," the Doctor said, his face growing grim. "This someone also apparently told him that I—or, rather, Old Fancypants—would be here at UNIT. That means that this someone knows information regarding my personal timestream."

Jamie froze; he knew all too well what the consequences of someone meddling in the Doctor's timestream were.

"I must find out who it is who is aiding Salamander," the Doctor insisted. "And I must, somehow, stop them both."


	3. Bring Them Here!

The Brigadier was silent for a moment as he contemplated the Doctor's words.

"While I agree that we must stop Salamander and his ally, I would prefer doing so in a way that doesn't involve you sticking your neck out," he said, at last.

"Then what do you suggest?" the Doctor queried.

"I suggest finding a location for this Salamander and putting on a show of force to convince him and his friend to surrender."

"…Yes, of course you would," the Doctor sighed. "I am sure the old dandy has told you of how that is generally a poor idea."

"Frequently."

"You will find that I feel the same way," the Doctor informed him. "However, you do make a good point about trying to find Salamander's physical location. Zoe?"

"Yes, Doctor?" she asked.

"That data you received from the trace—any chance that you can find a general location for where the signal started?"

"…I can try," Zoe said. "But I don't know if I ought to."

"Whatever do you mean?" the Doctor asked.

"Well…" Zoe cast a glance out the window. "I'd hate to think that I accidentally upset the programming of whatever it is Salamander was using by tracing his signal in the first place. Maybe that's why the storm is spreading instead of stopping like Salamander implied it would. If I try to poke around that data, I might do more harm than good."

"Oh, Zoe, I'm sure that it was nothing you did that caused this," the Doctor assured her. "I think it's something gone wrong with Salamander's own calculations—or the calculations of the one aiding him."

"Aye, but no matter what it is, if we know where Salamander and this other fellow are, we can stop the whole mess," Jamie added.

"I suppose so," Zoe said.

She worked for a few more minutes with the data she had uncovered; as she worked, the phone rang. Captain Yates took the call and talked for a few minutes, his face growing grim as he spoke.

"The storm is still continuing to spread at an alarming rate, Sir," he reported to the Brigadier. "It's still moving at a uniform rate in all directions—and we're right in the center of it."

A quick look of worry flashed across Zoe's face; Victoria walked up to her now, gently placing a hand on her shoulder as morale support.

"If the Doctor says that it wasn't you who caused it, then I'm sure of the same," she assured her.

"Thank you," Zoe replied, half-heartedly. "Well, I've got a general location from this, at any rate."

"Where?" the Brigadier asked.

"In the countryside of Surrey Hills," Zoe announced, as she made a mental note of the relative coordinates. "Salamander obviously wanted to be as close as he could to London, but remain relatively secluded."

"Excellent; we won't have to worry about bystanders getting caught in the confrontation," the Brigadier said.

"Before you start arming everyone and sending them out there, I really think you ought to let me assess the situation!" the Doctor insisted.

"Let _us_ assess the situation," Jamie corrected him.

"That 'us' had better include Zoe and myself," Victoria reminded the piper. "We don't intend to be letting the two of you run headlong into trouble yet again, as you always do. Isn't that right, Zoe?"

"Absolutely right!"

"Oh, very well!" the Brigadier exclaimed, frustrated. "But I want you to take one of the sturdy UNIT vehicles; I don't think Bessie will handle this weather well at all. And I will be following you with some of my men."

"Now, really, Brigadier—" the Doctor began.

"I'm afraid I must insist upon this matter," the Brigadier countered. "I am allowing you to try this your way first, but should something go wrong, you will need our aid! We'll maintain a certain distance from you so as not to alert Salamander to our presence until it is time to make our move."

"You seem certain that you'll have to," the Doctor observed.

"Well, am I wrong in assuming so? This Salamander seems to have caused you all trouble in the past!"

"Yes, but let's just say that I really don't like the idea of your men being armed to shoot at Salamander when I happen to look exactly like him!" the Doctor countered. "Add to the fact that the rain will ruin the visibility of your marksmen, it is clearly a situation that I should like to avoid!"

There was a beat of silence.

"He does have a point, ye know," Jamie said. "It's difficult to tell them apart even in bright light; with that rain oot there, falling in buckets, how will ye be able t' see past yer own nose?"

"We'll use tranquilizer guns," the Brigadier said, at last.

"Those have a tendency to produce ill effects when Gallifreyan physiology is concerned," the Doctor said.

"Fortunately for us, the other Doctor helped us develop a tranquilizer that wouldn't cause any lasting harm to your people," the Brigadier informed them. "I'll admit, I never quite imagined that we'd have to use them for this scenario, but they will prevent any lasting damage should you and Salamander get mixed up."

"Now why would my future self do a thing like that?" the Doctor wondered. "Oh, of course, because he's an insufferable, stupid—"

"Do you have any other objections to the course of action that I have decided to take, Doctor?" the Brigadier interrupted him.

"Other than the fact that I just don't like it?"

"Other than that."

"Well… no."

"I would feel better if we had some knowledge that our backs were being covered," Zoe admitted. "And since the Brigadier has resolved the problems to prevent any fatalities, I think it is our best option."

"Oh," the Doctor sighed. "Oh, very well. But you must stay back well enough and give me time, Brigadier!"

"I already said I would."

"Well, I suppose that's the best I can hope for," the Doctor conceded. "Now, I seem to recall you mentioning something about us using a UNIT vehicle?"

"Captain Yates, have a vehicle requisitioned for the Doctor," the Brigadier instructed. "Make certain that it's one that can handle this weather. And while you're at it, requisition three more for us to follow."

"Yes, Sir," the captain returned. He saluted before departing the room.

"It's not that I don't trust your judgment, Doctor," the Brigadier now said. "You have to understand the precautions I must take since you've described this Salamander to be a dangerous individual."

"Yes, of course I understand," the Doctor agreed. "But at least I know what to expect from Salamander. It's the other one I'm worried about; until I know who it is, there's no way of knowing exactly what precautions to take. And that's why you must stay back until one of us calls for you."

"I offer no promises, but we shall attempt to give you the adequate time you require. You'll have to settle for that."

The Doctor merely let out a quiet grunt in reply; Jamie knew that grunt all too well—more than once, it had meant that, one way or another, the Doctor would see to it that he would get his way.

The fact that he and the girls were with him now was proof of that.

* * *

Elsewhere, a very frustrated Ramon Salamander stood in a vast, round room as he attempted to get the storm under control from his iPad.

"It isn't responding to my commands!" he hissed, slamming the device against a large, circular console.

"Do not treat my console in such a manner," a voice chided him. "If you do, I shall have to force you to leave."

"You would send me out in that, huh?" Salamander asked, indicating the viewscreen. "Look at it!"

"Yes, it would seem that the storm has reached here in record time," said the other person, nonchalantly pouring himself a glass of wine.

"You seem so calm about this, Señor Maestro," Salamander said, his eyes narrowing. "You wouldn't have attempted to sabotage this effort, huh!?"

"You accusations wound me," Maestro responded, sardonically. "Exactly what would I gain from betraying you? Our main goals were identical—to get revenge on the Doctor. You, of course, had to add on a demand for money from UNIT in addition to that; your species is rarely satisfied with just one thing at a time."

Salamander muttered something under his breath in Spanish.

"Rest assured," Maestro continued. "I did nothing to change the settings of the machine. You had the device in your hands the entire time, and I was pouring the wine."

Salamander merely grunted in reply, attempting to gain control of the machine using the iPad.

"It is no use," he fumed. "It will not respond to my commands. …And something has happened to the device. It is as though there was an intrusion attempt."

"It would appear that UNIT finally brought in a computer expert," Maestro said, calmly. "It took them longer than I expected; the Brigadier is getting slower."

"_Si_? And what happens now, huh?" Salamander asked.

Maestro was only half-listening to him as he glanced at the viewscreen now; his eyebrows arched as a UNIT vehicle appeared on the screen, heading down the road, nearing them.

"It would seem that now, UNIT has sent people to us," he said. His expression now changed to a frown. "Let me adjust the image."

Salamander stared in growing horror as the image focused on the person driving the vehicle. The person's face was the mirror image of his own.

"The Doctor!" he hissed. "Maestro, you told me he had changed—that he no longer looks like me!"

"He _has_ changed!" Maestro insisted. "Obviously, this Doctor has arrived here in the course of his timestream and is looking into the matter instead of the other Doctor!" He paused. "If that is the case, then, he would not know that I am here. As far as he is concerned, I am still in a black hole. Salamander, you and you alone need to speak with him."

"_Que—_!?"

"If this Doctor has no reason to suspect that I am here, then it is best that we keep it this way," Maestro insisted. "They will be expecting someone here. And, therefore, that must be you."

"He will kill me!" Salamander argued, gripping the console to steady himself.

"The Doctor? I think not. He will make life very miserable for you, perhaps, but kill you?" Maestro chuckled. "Definitely not."

"You think that is a better alternative, huh?" Salamander queried.

"Nevertheless, you must go."

"No!"

As the discussion between them deteriorated into an argument, the Doctor and his companions drew ever closer in the UNIT vehicle.

"I still think I could've driven," Jamie said, sulking slightly in the front passenger seat. "The other Doctor taught me the last time I was here."

"And I'm sure you were very good at it," the Doctor responded. "But I do think that this weather isn't the best for you to continue your lessons. Zoe, how close are?"

"According to my calculations, we are in the general area of where the message originated," she responded from the back seat.

"But there's nothing here!" Victoria exclaimed, squinting as she tried to see through the sheets of rain. "It's all grass and hills—except for that giant tree over there."

"That really is a great, big tree," Jamie agreed.

"So it is…" the Doctor murmured.

He pulled the UNIT vehicle over to the side of the road, staring at the tree.

"You know," Victoria said. "When I was a little girl, I used to visit here with my father. I don't ever remember seeing this tree before."

"Maybe it wasnae there during yer time," Jamie said.

"Oh, no, Jamie," the Doctor said. "A tree that large would have to have been here for centuries. That, of course, begs the question of what it's doing here…"

As if to answer the Doctor's question, a black-clad figure suddenly appeared in view, falling from one of the higher branches to a lower one; he stayed there until he slipped and fell onto the soggy ground.

"…And I think our old friend Salamander will have the answer," the Doctor finished.


	4. Nothing but a Puppet

_Notes: the reference to the alternate universe that Jamie saw as a result of the Great Intelligence's interference (along with his meeting one of Clara's echoes) occurs in the last three chapters of "Those Who Help Us Most to Grow," my Jamie drabble series_.

* * *

Salamander's reaction to falling out of the tree was one of pure rage. He threw a furious glance at the upper branches.

"_Estupido_-!" he began, but froze as he remembered why he had been cast outside in the first place.

Sure enough, the Doctor—along with the others—were quickly exiting the UNIT vehicle and heading towards him. Salamander considered running, but even he knew it was useless; the Scotsman could both outspeed and outdistance him.

They had him surrounded in moments; he recognized them all and was slightly surprised to see Victoria back with them again. Nevertheless, as Zoe forced Salamander's arm behind his back, causing him to double over from the sharp pain, and as Jamie held his knife out at him, Salamander soon found himself preoccupied with other concerns.

"So…" the Doctor said. "We meet again. Considering that this torrent is the exact opposite of the drought that occurred on Neo Serenity the last time we met, I should have realized that it was you sooner!"

"_Si_, and it seems you have the advantage over me. What do you intend to do now, huh?" Salamander inquired.

"That will be entirely dependent on how helpful you decide to be," the Doctor said, calmly. He cast a glance at the giant tree, suppressing a frown as he turned back to Salamander. "Though I think it fair to warn you that I shall probably far more forgiving than my companions here, who remember you quite well."

To prove his point, Zoe tightened the pressure on his arm as Jamie stepped closer with the knife; even Victoria cracked her knuckles.

"So… you are here for revenge," Salamander concluded.

"Not quite," the Doctor said. "But we do demand some answers as to what is going here!"

"Where is there to explain?" Salamander returned. "I ended up here with the vortex manipulator, I recreated my weather machine, and I decided to use it in order to get some money from UNIT."

"You also requested that they send me," the Doctor reminded him. "And here I am. But I don't think it ended up quite the way you expected."

"And how would you know what I expected?" Salamander queried.

The Doctor frowned.

"Don't play games with me," he said, in a warning tone. "You've learned much since our last encounter. You know what I really am."

"_Si_," Salamander hissed. "Time Lord. I have learned much about you. It explains how you came across this Jacobite rebel." He threw a glance at Jamie, who glared right back at him. Salamander then turned back to face the Doctor. "I also know that you are supposed to be dead—revived with a different face!"

"Oh, believe me, Salamander, that white-haired string bean would have ended this already with a brief round of Venusian aikido," the Doctor said. "I can do the same, except that won't answer our questions."

"Aye, and it won' stop this rain!" Jamie said.

It hadn't taken sixty seconds for them to be soaked already, and the wind was making things very uncomfortable indeed.

"You're our prisoner now," Victoria said. "So you might as well put a stop to this storm!"

"Believe me, Señorita Waterfield, there is nothing I would like more," Salamander said. "However, I have found that the storm is now unable to be controlled. It no longer receives remote instructions from my iPad."

"Well then, shut the machine off manually!" Zoe exclaimed. "Even a child would have suggested that!"

"_Si_, and I would have done that—had the machine not been hundreds of miles away, just outside of Inverness!" Salamander retorted.

Jamie's eyes suddenly sparked in anger, suddenly forgetting that they needed Salamander in one piece to turn off the rain.

"Inverness!?" he exclaimed, now touching the blade of his knife to Salamander's throat. "Ye left that accursed machine in my homeland!?"

"It was determined to be the best location to leave it, near the old Bronze Age remains," Salamander said, hastily. "We… I wanted it away from prying eyes."

"And who was the other person to determine this?" the Doctor inquired.

"They are of no consequence," Salamander insisted.

"Aye, there'll be consequences—for ye and for this other fellow for sullying the ground of Scotland with yer machine!" Jamie snarled.

"Jamie—" the Doctor began.

"Och, don' pretend ye wouldnae be upset if Salamander put up that contraption on Gallifrey!" Jamie exclaimed.

"As if I would even go there," Salamander muttered. "I have seen enough of you to last a lifetime."

"And yet, you insisted I come here," the Doctor reminded him. "Something tells me that you're not the one in charge of things this time around. Your contact seems to be giving all of the orders—as well as giving you information about me."

Salamander scowled, glaring at the Doctor.

"Who is your contact?" the Doctor asked again.

The scientist remained quiet, continuing to glare daggers at the alien being who resembled him.

"I'll bet it was the Daleks," Jamie said, with a knowing look to the Doctor. "They know all aboot ye, and who ye are."

"Oh, no; them again?" Victoria asked, suppressing a shudder.

"No, no; don't you worry," the Doctor assured her. "The Daleks put no value on human life; they'd have done away with Salamander the moment they'd laid their eyestalks on him. It couldn't have been them."

"And it couldn't have been the Cybermen, either," Zoe concluded. "They'd have converted him immediately."

"Will you all shut up?" Salamander hissed. "You are trying to get me to talk by driving me mad, huh? It is working! I do not know my contact's true name; I only know him as Señor Maestro."

The Doctor arched an eyebrow as the companions exchanged baffled glances.

"…An orchestra leader?" Victoria asked.

"Maybe it's metaphorical," Jamie said. "Aye, he's controlling the weather like those people control the orchestra."

"That doesn't make any sense," Zoe said. "Then again, neither does the weather machine suddenly going out of control, so what do I know…?"

"Oh, no," Victoria said, suddenly realizing something. "What if it's some poor orchestra leader who's been taken over by the Great Intelligence?"

Jamie paled.

"What!?" he exclaimed.

"Well, think about it!" Victoria said. "It can take over anyone, and it knows all about the Doctor and it hates him so much…"

"Aye, but… the Intelligence should be stopped by now! I know it did make copies of itself, but I met this lassie named Clara, and she said that she'd made copies of herself to stop the copies of the Intelligence, but… Och, what if she missed one? What if the Intelligence is trying t' take over the Doctor's mind again?"

"Well, we can't let it—whatever it is!" Zoe insisted.

A flash of memory from another timeline crossed Jamie's consciousness—a memory of a Doctor corrupted by the Intelligence. Jamie had been struggling to keep the images from that alternate world banished from his mind—a world that he had ended up creating out of desperation to stop the Intelligence, only to find out that doing so had made things worse.

Jamie cast a horrified look towards the Doctor, who gave him a nod, as though to reassure him that the alternate reality he had seen would not come to pass in this one.

"Perhaps we'd better hear this story from the beginning," the Doctor said, turning back to Salamander.

"I will say nothing else!" Salamander insisted; for a moment, his gaze flickered to the giant tree behind them, a look of fright on his face.

"Aye, ye will!" Jamie insisted, holding the knife back up to Salamander's throat. "Ye're our prisoner now; ye'll do what we tell ye!"

"I think we've had quite enough of this!" the Brigadier's voice roared over the rain. He, Benton, Yates, and several other men were approaching him. "Doctor, I believe we've given you enough time!"

"Well, I could use a little more!" the Doctor countered.

"We can, at least, get out of this downpour!" the Brigadier called. "Bring him back to one of our vehicles; you can continue questioning him for another fifteen minutes, and then we'll take over!"

"That's almost nothing!" the Doctor protested, as Zoe and Jamie forced Salamander towards the UNIT vehicles. "I need an hour, at the least!"

"A half-hour!" the Brigadier conceded.

"Forty-five minutes!"

"Oh, very well!" the Brigadier said, with an exasperated wave of his hand. "I'll have the men search for his partner in the meantime!"

"_Buena suerte_…" Salamander muttered.

"Just what does that mean?" Jamie asked, hearing him.

"Nothing that concerns you."

"Look, you can make this easier on yourself by cooperating with us," Victoria said, as Jamie and Zoe continued to lead him back. "We may not be as nasty as your man Benik was, but I'm sure the Brigadier might give you a lighter sentence if tell us everything!"

"A lighter sentence…" Salamander scoffed, as they got into one of the larger UNIT vans that the Brigadier had requisitioned. "What is the difference, huh? This Brigadier of yours will give me eighty years of imprisonment instead of a life sentence? At my age, it makes no difference."

"Never mind about the Brigadier," the Doctor said, as he caught up to them. "_He_ can sentence you to a lifetime in a prison. _I_ can sentence you to a lifetime in the time vortex. And with no vortex manipulator to save you now, there's no telling where the vortex will spit you out—if it does at all."

Salamander did look horrified at the thought.

"After the incident on Neo Serenity, I used the vortex manipulator to escape the vortex," he said. "I first attempted to return to 2018, to see if there was anything left for me to salvage. There was nothing."

"It's your own fault," Victoria chided him. "You were doing so much good for everyone, and then you had to get greedy!"

"Spare me the morality speech, huh? I left 2018 soon after that and wandered around aimlessly for a while. Eventually, I arrived here. It was my original intent to find and eliminate the parents of Giles Kent—if he was already born, then Giles Kent himself."

"Oh, you fool," the Doctor muttered. "That would have caused a dangerous paradox—it could have torn at the fabric of space and time itself!"

"Exactly what Señor Maestro told me," Salamander said. "He found me before I could do anything with my plan and advised me against it. He spoke like you—and I even accused him of being hand in glove with you. The moment I mentioned you, though, he took an interest in me."

"And that was when the idea of using your weather machine to pester UNIT and draw me out came about?" the Doctor asked.

"_Si_. Maestro told me you had changed—that you were sentenced to exile, which was only recently lifted."

Jamie swore.

"Doctor, it's nae fair!" he exclaimed. "Here ye are, doing whatever it is they tell ye t' do for the Celestial Intervention Agency, and they're just going t' use ye until ye're of no use t' them and then they'll make ye change and exile ye anyway!"

"That may be, but it was certainly worth it to see you three again; I have no regrets," the Doctor insisted. "Now, then, Salamander—just who is Maestro?"

"I don't know," Salamander insisted. "He tells me nothing about himself, though he goes on and on about you. And there is nothing more I can tell you about him or anything; we set the machine up in the Highlands and came here to draw you out."

"Where is he?" the Doctor asked. He was met with silence, prompting him to realize something. "This Maestro… you're afraid of him, aren't you?"

Salamander scowled.

"He reminds me too much of you," he muttered. "By my choice, I would not trust him or work with him, but I was desperate for revenge against you."

"Evidently, so was he," Zoe said. "But if we got the two of you together, you would be able to stop the machine, wouldn't you?"

"We would have to figure out the proper coding sequence to regain control, but, _si_, we could. I could, perhaps, figure it out on my own, but it would take weeks."

"We don't have weeks," the Doctor said. "I'm not even sure that we have more than a few days at the rate that the storm is spreading."

"Then what can we do?" Jamie asked.

"The only thing we can do," the Doctor said. "We must find Maestro and work together to stop this storm."


	5. The Thousand Years of Raindrops

_Notes: there are references in this fic from here on out to the novel _The Dark Path_, which is where Two, Jamie, and Victoria encountered the Master. Among the many things that happened in that novel was the friendship that struck between the Master and Victoria—unfortunately, that went downhill towards the end, but I firmly believe that they still have some amount of admiration for each other (with Victoria more willing to admit it than the Master would, of course)_.

* * *

Jamie was the one most nervous about the prospect of finding Maestro, if for no other reason than dealing with the possibility of the Great Intelligence being a part of this plot, however slightly.

"Do ye really think it's a good idea t' be going oot there and find this Maestro when we don' know who he is?"

The Doctor glanced at Jamie now, sensing his worry.

"The more I think about it, the more I am certain that the Intelligence is not behind this," the Doctor said. "The Intelligence would have been more inclined to take over Salamander's mind and add his knowledge to it."

"Aye, I suppose so…" Jamie said, quietly. "But does it nae worry ye that this Maestro knows all aboot ye?"

"Well, of course, I am concerned," the Doctor said. "But we must find him if we have any hope of stopping this rain." He turned to Salamander. "I am asking you again, Salamander—where is he?"

"I have said too much already," the scientist replied. "I shall say nothing else. If you find him, it will be without my help."

"You really are afraid of him," Zoe observed.

The Brigadier now entered the vehicle with Benton and Yates.

"We've given you the forty-five minutes you requested, Doctor," he said. "It's now time for us to question him."

"You're welcome to try," the Doctor said. "But he appears to be afraid of his associate. You won't get much from him."

"We'll have to see about that," the Brigadier replied. "We didn't have any luck in finding his associate, so I fully intend to get the information we need from him."

Salamander glared at the Brigadier in silent fury.

"If you don't mind, Brigadier, while you question him, I should like to join the search outside for his associate," the Doctor said.

"Very well, if you think you'll have better luck."

"Perhaps I shall," the Time Lord mused. He then turned to his three companions. "I'll understand if the three of you would avoid searching out in that downpour—"

"Och, it'll take more than that rain oot there to keep me from helping ye," Jamie grinned. "I'm going with ye."

"And I, for one, couldn't possibly get any more drenched than I am already," Victoria sighed. "I might as well join you."

"Me, too," Zoe agreed. "The sooner we settle this, the sooner we can dry off in front of the TARDIS's fireplace."

Even Benton seemed interested by this idea; his mind momentarily drifted to warming up by the fireside before Yates brought him back around by clearing his throat.

The Doctor and the others now left the UNIT vehicle, running through the pouring rain. They paused under the giant tree, even though it didn't offer much shelter from the downpour; rain continued to pelt them from between the branches.

"Now, then…" the Doctor said. "Where are the most likely places to hide in this area? It would have to be somewhere not too far away; Maestro would want to keep an eye on Salamander to ensure that he won't divulge anything…" He trailed off as he glanced at the tree trunk, placing a hand over it. A frown crossed his face.

"That mysterious tree again?" Victoria asked.

"Yes…" the Doctor mused. He glanced up at the branches of the tree. "We saw Salamander fall from up there, didn't we?"

"Yes, and I thought I saw him look back up there when we started talking about Maestro," Zoe recalled. "Do you think he could be up there?"

"Possibly, assuming he didn't flee once the Brigadier started his search," the Doctor replied.

"Aye, well it'll be easy enough t' find oot," Jamie said, and he began to climb up the tree trunk.

"Oh, Jamie, be careful!" the Doctor exclaimed. "I think you'd better let me go instead!"

But Jamie wasn't listening; he wanted there to be something between Maestro and the Doctor, and he would prefer that thing to be him. Jamie knew that he'd be ready to strike if there was a need to.

The Doctor, fretting over Jamie having climbed up first, was now scrambling after him. Zoe gave Victoria a questioning look; after she nodded in response, the two girls started climbing up the tree, as well.

But Jamie, reaching the upper branches, let out a snarl of disappointment.

"There's no one here!" he called. "Nae a trace of anyone—just more branches and some vines!"

But the Doctor kept climbing until he was beside Jamie.

"Somehow, I'm not so certain about that," he said, fishing the Stattenheim remote control and his sonic screwdriver from his pockets.

As Victoria and Zoe both joined them, they were puzzled to see the Doctor scanning the tree branches and vines with both devices.

"It can't be…" he murmured. "But it _must_ be! Jamie, do you see that smaller branch above you?"

"Aye."

"I want you to grab onto it—put all of your weight on it and try to pull yourself upwards using it."

Jamie stared at the Doctor with a look of disbelief.

"Ye must be joking!" he exclaimed. "That wee branch cannae hold me! It's nae e'en a branch—it's just a large twig!"

"I don't think it is, Jamie. I want you to try pulling yourself up with it. I promise I'll catch you if you fall."

"But, Doctor, that tiny thing couldn't possibly hold his weight!" Zoe agreed.

"There is one way that it could," the Doctor said. "Jamie, please… You trust me, don't you?"

Jamie nodded; of course, he trusted the Doctor. He looked up at the tiny branch, and after a moment's hesitation, grabbed onto it and attempted to pull himself up—and he succeeded, staring wide-eyed at the fact that he had done so.

"How is that possible?" Victoria asked, amazed.

"It isn't!" Zoe said. "Jamie isn't exactly light. A tree branch that small shouldn't be able to hold him at all!"

"That's because it isn't a tree branch," the Doctor said. "And this isn't a tree at all. Victoria, try peeling at the bark on that branch you're sitting on."

Victoria attempted to do so, but she didn't even make a scratch.

"It feels real enough, but it doesn't act like a tree," she realized.

"Well, if it's not a tree, then what is it?" Zoe asked.

"It's a TARDIS," the Doctor said, plainly. "A brilliant disguise. No one would suspect a Time Lord to disguise a TARDIS as a plant! Those Ceruleans are too dotty to even fly a TARDIS; no one would guess it!"

"So Maestro is a Time Lord," Jamie muttered. "Och, that's how he knows aboot ye. It must be one who knew ye verra well."

"Yes, and I'm afraid I think I finally realize who that Time Lord is," the Doctor sighed. He cupped his hands around his mouth. "Koschei!"

"What!?" Victoria exclaimed, as Jamie nearly fell out of the tree in utter surprise—and as Zoe looked utterly confused.

"Koschei, you might as well let us in!" the Doctor called. "The fact that this tree is still here is proof that the storm is affecting the time vortex—you'd have dematerialized the moment we got distracted with Salamander if it had been possible!"

There was no response.

"Koschei, don't you understand that if the storm is affecting the time vortex this much, it's only a matter of time before there's an irreversible disaster!?" the Doctor said. "That would have been the end result of Salamander's last attempt at meddling with the weather on Neo Serenity—he told you all about that, of course!"

"Koschei, please let us in!" Victoria exclaimed now, causing Jamie and the Doctor to stare at her in confusion. "We have to work together to stop this!"

"Och, we cannae trust him!" Jamie hissed.

"But who _is_ he!?" Zoe asked, still very confused about all this.

"And old school friend of the Doctor's," Victoria said. "He's a genius. He saved my life once, you know."

"Aye, and then he took control of yer mind!" Jamie reminded her. "The Doctor left him in black hole—I knew he got oot at some point, but I didnae expect him to be in league with Salamander…"

"Yes, I knew he got out at some point, as well," the Doctor said. "How else could he have turned up in the Tomb of Rassilon?" He sighed. "Well, Koschei!? What do you want me to do to get you to open the doors!?"

A mass of branches and fines now moved, revealing the TARDIS interior—and the Time Lord who stood at the console, glaring at them all.

"You may start, Doctor, by addressing me with the name I have chosen to use since our encounter on Darkheart," he said. "I am the Master."

"And Maestro is the Spanish word for Master," Zoe realized. "But I don't understand one thing—if he's a friend of the Doctor's, why did he control Victoria's mind?"

"He went and betrayed us all," Jamie growled, drawing his knife.

"But, Jamie, wait," Victoria said. "Maybe he really will work with us this time."

The piper stared at her, baffled.

"He. Took. Over. Yer. Mind," Jamie said, slowly and clearly. "And he clearly still has some influence over ye, by the sound of it."

"That's enough, all of you," the Doctor said, not taking his eyes off of the Master. "So… _Master_. You've taken to making life difficult for Old Fancypants, haven't you? This was meant to be another one of those attempts at grabbing his attention?"

"Indeed, Doctor," the Master replied, calmly. "Your upcoming regeneration will bestow upon you a considerable amount of charm and finesse that you are currently lacking."

"He's just fine the way he is!" Jamie shot back.

"We can discuss the qualities of my regenerations at another time," the Doctor said. "Now are you going to let us in, or are we to continue talking to you from these branches?"

"It wasn't enough for you to abandon me. Now, you wish to gain entry into my TARDIS?" the Master countered.

"Well, if you're so confident that you can resolve the problem of this downpour on your own—in time—we shall be on our way."

"You seem to forget, Doctor, it was I who helped _you_ when your experiments went awry back at the Academy."

"There was one occasion where I distinctly remember helping you when one of your projects went amok" the Doctor countered.

"You _attempted_ to help," the Master corrected him. "It was Ushas who saved us both in the end."

"Yes, well, Ushas isn't here, and even if she wanted to get here, the state of the vortex wouldn't allow it—not that she would want to, as the last time I saw her, she was recovering from having two Grigs of Androgums invading her TARDIS…"

"A plot devised by you, no doubt," the Master accused. "Just as you left me."

"Actually, I can't take all the credit for that one," the Doctor mused. "Jamie here had more than a hand in it."

The Master gave Jamie a long, cold look as the piper gripped the Doctor's arm in solidarity.

"You may enter," the Master said, at last. "But under no circumstances are you to touch my console."

"Not that it would do much good," Zoe pointed out, as they all got inside, one at a time. "We can't go anywhere with the vortex in the state as it is. Just as the displacement of water into the vortex affected it in Neo Serenity, the removal of water will likewise affect it here."

The Master paused to meet the glare that Jamie was giving him and acknowledge Victoria's look of gratitude before looking to Zoe.

"You are more knowledgeable about these matters than others of your species," he commented. "Can you postulate the end result of this, Miss…?"

"Heriot. Zoe Heriot. And I suppose I can. On Neo Serenity, when the vortex was taking in water, it was losing energy. Eventually, it would have lost so much energy that it would've collapsed in on itself. Since the vortex is now losing water, we can assume that the water that is being displaced is being replaced with extra energy. And if it takes in too much energy, it could result in a catastrophic explosion!"

"That is the logical conclusion," the Master agreed.

"Yes, but it only answers one question," the Doctor said. "It only tells us _what_ will happen. We need to know how much time we have left to come up with a solution to stop this process!"

"Since Salamander and I lost control of the weather machine, I have been making calculations to determine just that," the Master assured him.

"And…?" the Doctor prompted.

"I must regretfully inform you that, based on the rate of which the storm is spreading, critical mass in the vortex will be achieved at a point of 72 hours after we programmed the last order in the machine—which was at 6:00 this morning, Greenwich time. As evening has befallen us now, we are left with only sixty hours."


	6. Just Try and Stop It!

_Notes: Jamie's encounter with the Master, where the Valeyard was the subject of discussion was part of my Jamie drabble series (chapter 15)_. _The call forwards to "The Deadly Assassin" serial are intentional_. _And my "Gallifreyans are humanoid crocodiles" headcanon returns_ _here_.

* * *

The Doctor stared at the Master in stunned silence.

"That's it!?" he exclaimed. "Three days—with only two-and-a-half left!?"

"If you wish to recalculate the figures, you are more than welcome to do so," the Master replied.

"But, Doctor, that shouldn't be too difficult," Zoe said. "As I recall, it took us less than three days to resolve the matter on Neo Serenity."

"That may be, Zoe, but we knew exactly what course of action to take on Neo Serenity," the Doctor said. "We shall have to take the time to figure out what to do in this case, and then go about implementing it."

"'We?' I believe I have done enough by allowing you access to my TARDIS," the Master said. "And I shall also grant you full access to the controls of the weather machine—remotely, of course. If you believe that you can come up with the answer, then you are free to do so."

"You are in as much danger as we are!" the Doctor countered. "You had better give us all the help you can—and that includes the mental work!"

"You are in no position to be giving me orders, Doctor!"

"Please, help us!" Victoria pleaded. "You just heard the Doctor say that you'll suffer the same fate as us!"

The Doctor now spoke to the Master in their own tongue. Jamie could understand a little of the conversation from the lessons the Doctor had given him; the Doctor was, indeed, trying to appeal to the Master for help. The Master seemed to remain unmoved.

"Och, let him do whate'er he wants, Doctor!" Jamie said, hating to see the Doctor pleading with the Master. "We don' need his help! We solved the Neo Serenity mess withoot him!"

"But if the Doctor is right about us needing time to figure out what to do, an extra brain working with us would be very helpful," Zoe pointed out.

"And appreciated," Victoria added for the Master's benefit; he was still in an argument with the Doctor, however, and didn't seem to hear her.

"Yes," Zoe agreed. "In fact, I don't think it would be a bad idea if we went to the Brigadier and asked him to let Salamander come back here to help us with this problem, as well!"

"Aye? Then let's go ahead and invite the Great Intelligence to help, while we're at it!" Jamie shot back, sardonically.

"That was an absolutely unnecessary comment, James McCrimmon!" Victoria snapped. "I'll admit that I'm not thrilled at the idea of asking Salamander for help—"

"Aye, but ye seem more than willing to ask _him_ for help!" Jamie said, indicating the Master.

"Jamie, I told you, he saved my life! I owe him some benefit of the doubt for that, don't I?"

"Seeing as though he hypnotized ye, I don' think so!" the piper countered. "Anything he owed ye was nullified by that!"

"Jamie, he could have killed me afterwards, but he didn't! He let me go!"

"Och, and that makes him a saint, does it!?"

"WILL YOU ALL BE QUIET!?" Zoe yelled, at the top of her voice.

Both sets of arguments stopped in midsentence as the other four people in the console room turned to stare at the astrophysicist.

"You've already made it clear that we don't have much time left," Zoe said, glaring at all of them. "So kindly stop arguing; you are more than welcome to squabble _after_ we resolve the problem! And we need every available source to solve the problem—that includes the Master and Salamander!"

"Yes, I was trying to convince him of that," the Doctor said, giving a look to his former friend.

"And I say that there's too great a risk in working with the Master," Jamie said. "I'm willing t' work with Salamander. He, at least, has ne'er played aroond with us, and we know how his mind works. But this one…" Jamie now glared at the Master. "He's nae but a crocodile, and ye cannae trust a crocodile!" The piper then flinched, realizing his faux pas as he looked to the Doctor. "Except ye, of course."

"Thank you for that vote of confidence, Jamie, despite my crocodilian ways," the Doctor replied, with a wry smirk.

"Well, crocodile or not, I am fairly certain that the Master must have _some_ amount of a self-preservation instinct," Zoe said.

"Yes, I would rather not fall victim to an explosion in the time vortex," the Master assured her. In reality, he had wanted to hear the Doctor plead for his help first.

"Then you'll help us?" Victoria asked.

"Yes, I suppose I will offer to you the benefit of my intellect for this matter," the Master agreed.

"Och, I feel _so_ much better aboot this whole thing now," the piper said, with a voice that dripped even more sarcasm than before. "Just aboot every doubt has been banished from my mind—"

"That will do, Jamie," the Doctor said. "Now that we've gotten all of this settled, I would like one of you to go to the Brigadier and tell him what's going on—and that we need Salamander here on the double."

"I'm nae leaving ye here with him!" Jamie said, clinging to the Doctor's arm. "We still don' know the circumstances of yer regeneration, and I don' want it t' be here and now! I am staying with ye."

"It would be highly improbable for the Doctor to regenerate now," the Master pointed out. "His exile was only recently lifted. …Although, I suppose it would be rather like Goth to see that you've regenerated and then exile you to the point in time a few years prior. …Let's say that it's only slightly probable."

"Aye, well if there's any probability aboot it, then I'm nae leaving him with ye for a moment!" Jamie stated.

"Hold on just a moment," the Doctor said, frowning. "How do _you_ know Goth so well? He only made a name for himself after we had both left Gallifrey! You couldn't possibly have gone back to Gallifrey—they'd have put you on trial, just as they did to me! So how do you know him?"

"How, indeed?" the Master mused. "Let's just say, Doctor, that I have been more mobile than your third self these past few years. And I keep an ear to the ground."

"I'll bet you do," the Doctor said, darkly.

Jamie wasn't exactly sure what the Doctor meant by that, but, regardless of what it was, he didn't like it. As much as Jamie distrusted the Master, he hated and despised Goth even more—and the thought of the two of them somehow being connected was a concept too horrible for the piper to imagine.

"Aye? Well, I like t' keep an ear t' the ground, too," Jamie said, after a moment. "And so I'll stay here."

"Jamie…" Zoe said, rolling her eyes. She then abandoned whatever it was she wanted to say to him, remembering how stubborn he could be. "Never mind; _I'll_ go back and speak to the Brigadier."

"No, no," Victoria said. "They need you and your cleverness here; I'll go talk to the Brigadier." She paused, and then turned to the Master. "The Brigadier will most likely want to come here—to keep an eye on Salamander. And you. And he may bring others with him. You don't mind, do you?"

"It is apparent that I don't have a choice in the matter, Miss Waterfield," the Master replied, as he brought up some calculations on a screen on the console. "I want you to make it very clear to them, however, that I cannot guarantee their safety if they decide to wander around my TARDIS."

Victoria nodded.

"Of course. And… thank you—for helping us, I mean."

The Master gave her an unreadable glance as Victoria left his TARDIS. Zoe walked up to him now, inquiring as to what was on the screen. As the Master went over the calculations with her, the Doctor took Jamie aside momentarily.

"Doctor, I don' like it," the piper said to him, before he could say anything. "I don' like the idea of working with the Master. What if he betrays us!?"

"I understand why you would think that, Jamie. But I have known him longer than you have, and I do know that his self-preservation instinct is very strong indeed. He won't attempt to cross us until we are guaranteed to be safe. Once that moment has come, however, we shall have to be extra-vigilant—especially for Victoria's sake."

"Aye, and that's the other thing that still bothers me," Jamie said, as he cast a glance over at the Master to make sure that he wasn't attempting to hypnotize Zoe. "Why does Victoria want to trust him? Is she still under his influence?"

"The hypnosis that the Master used on her would have worn off long ago, Jamie," the Doctor assured him. "She was very taken to him right from the beginning, as you remember. And I feel that he did seem to take a liking to her—though he'll never admit it. He… has that effect on people. He was always very charismatic, even in our younger years; it was always a thrill to be around him."

Jamie stared at the Doctor now; he could've sworn that he sensed a hint of admiration in the Doctor's voice.

"Doctor…!" Jamie quietly exclaimed. "Nae ye, as well!"

"Don't worry, Jamie; those days are long gone," the Doctor sighed. "While we were on Darkheart, I had hoped that there was a chance that I… that we could have returned to those days. But it quickly became clear that it would never be like that again. I have accepted that."

"I see…" Jamie said, quietly—though it didn't sound as though he really meant it.

The Doctor also cast a glance to make sure that Zoe was alright before continuing with their conversation.

"You have to understand, Jamie… Koshei and I were once as close as you and I are now. You never can forget something like that, can you?"

"No," Jamie admitted. "E'en when Goth and the others modified my memories, I could still remember bits and pieces of things. And yer memories havenae been altered."

"No, indeed," the Doctor sighed.

"Aye, I understand," Jamie said. "I'd feel the same way if Alexander was alive and was somewhere."

"Naturally," the Doctor agreed. "But Koschei isn't Koschei anymore; he's the Master. He threw away what we had for his own ambitions, which is something that you never did—and I am confident in saying that you would never do so."

"Ne'er," Jamie vowed. "They would have t' kill me, and I'd still ne'er betray ye; I'd defend ye with my dying breath."

"I do hope it never comes to that," the Doctor said, sincerely. "And that is why I trust you now. Which is why I want you to know something in the event that the Master so much as looks at Victoria or Zoe the wrong way."

Silently, the Doctor placed his hand over Jamie's and used his touch-telepathy to transmit his message—

"_The Master has no regenerations left_."

Jamie looked to the Doctor for a moment and responded with a nod. He understood what the Doctor was trying to say.

"_Mind you, I am trusting you with this information for a reason_," the Doctor added. "_So… for my sake, Jamie, use it only as a very, very last resort. I am a sentimental old fool—you know that. I'd rather he remain alive_."

"Aye," Jamie said, quietly. "I give ye my word."

Satisfied, the Doctor gave Jamie's shoulder a squeeze before joining the Master and Zoe at the console and adding his knowledge towards solving the problem.

There wasn't really much Jamie could do, other than make sure that he was well-armed in the event that something did go wrong. He had his trusty knife hidden in his sock, as always, and he had some aspirin in his sporran for his own use—which he had learned long ago was highly toxic to Gallifreyans. Between those and his own strength, he was confident he could handle things.

But there was one thing still puzzling him. The Master he had met—the one who had warned him about the Doctor becoming the Valeyard—had not looked like this Master. If he had no regenerations left, then how had he changed? Had he somehow managed to get another one? Or was there something else at work?

Jamie shook his head, wanting to put it out of his mind, but something else soon began to bother him. Remembering the warning about the Valeyard was forcefully reminding Jamie of the corrupted Doctor he had met in the alternate timestream. Even though that had been the Great Intelligence's doing, this other Master had made it clear that even in this timeline, the Valeyard's existence was to happen—but as a separate entity from the Doctor. But there wasn't much else that Jamie knew—other than the fact that the Master, corrupted as he was, seemed to fear the Valeyard.

Jamie glanced back at the two Time Lords and Zoe; all three of them were in deep conversation, talking about things that were sailing over the piper's head. They seemed concerned, but that was to be expected.

Just as important as resolving the crisis with the time vortex was ensuring that the Valeyard failed in attaining an early existence through the Doctor. And to ensure that, Jamie would have to find out everything the Master knew about him.

However much he hated the idea of trusting the Master, the piper realized that he would have to do just that.


	7. Good Guys and Bad Guys

Jamie was waiting, patiently, for a chance to speak to the Master alone. Trying to get him away from the others would lead to questions—and one thing that Jamie had learned was that it was Peri's Doctor who was to find out about the Valeyard's existence. Jamie couldn't let his Doctor find out, otherwise there would be a paradox—despite however much he wanted to tell him. He hated having to keep this from him.

The piper was left to pace for some more time before he could hear voices outside the Master's TARDIS. The Brigadier was issuing orders, while Victoria seemed to be pleading with him.

"I think they're here," Jamie announced.

"Thank you for stating the obvious," the Master quipped.

Jamie gave the Master a dark look, but then helped Victoria inside the TARDIS. She was soon followed by the Brigadier, Benton, and Yates, who were dragging in Salamander. While Benton had Salamander in his custody, the Brigadier and Yates had their weapons drawn and pointed at the Master, much to Victoria's nervousness.

"I told you, Brigadier, the Master is going to help us!" she said.

"Be that as it may, we cannot afford to lower our guard around him, not even for a moment," the Brigadier responded.

"And so you take your usual course of action," the Master noted, not even flickering an eyelid. "You point a gun at something and expect everything to go your way. Miss Waterfield, have you told them about my warning that I cannot guarantee their safety if they go beyond this room?"

"Yes," she said. "You have to understand why they're so cautious; they're afraid that you might… Well…"

"Try to, as they put it, double-cross them? Gentlemen, the problem at hand will have a devastating effect on all of us. I wish to live as much as you do. I am sure that Salamander wishes to live, as well."

"_Si_," the former dictator muttered. He glared at Benton. "Am I permitted to join them, huh? Or are you willing to impede our progress?"

The Brigadier nodded at Benton, who stepped back and indicated Salamander to join the others.

"How kind," Salamander muttered, as he joined the others. "How much have you told them, Maestro?"

"They are aware of all of our calculations; we are now attempting to come up with the proper coding sequence to override the machine," the Master said.

"Yes, the problem seems to be the information feedback," the Doctor said. "Instead of containing itself—"

"I am aware of what the problem is; it is _my_ machine!" Salamander snapped. "Also, Maestro, we shall be needing some coffee; it is going to be a long night."

"Do I look like a servitor?" the Master asked, darkly. After a moment, he relented, deciding that if he had to have these humans in his TARDIS, he might as well give them coffee to prevent any complaining. "Oh, very well."

"If you think we're going to let you wander off alone, you are sorely mistaken," the Brigadier said, aiming his weapon at the Master again.

"I'll go with him, Brigadier," Jamie said, drawing his knife. "Ye lot keep an eye on Salamander; I'll keep an eye on him."

"Are you sure, McCrimmon?"

"Aye; I can handle myself," the piper promised. He gave the Doctor a reassuring nod to let him know that he would be fine before following the Master out of the console room.

They were going down a corridor when Jamie suddenly ran in front of the Master, holding the knife out.

"Now ye just stop right here for a moment," the piper ordered, quietly. "We need t' have a wee chat."

"I thought we established that we are, for the moment, working to achieve the same goal," the Master said, unconcerned with the knife point inches from his face.

"Aye, we are," Jamie agreed. "But there's another goal that we're trying t' achieve—one that's just between ye and me."

The Master gave him a blank stare.

"I cannot possibly imagine that you and I would be working towards any sort of goal besides this one," he replied.

"Aye, ye can—the Valeyard," Jamie said. He was met with another blank stare. "Och, come on—the Valeyard! Ye know what I'm talking aboot!"

"Do I look as though I know what you're talking about, you babbling primitive!? We don't have the time for this—and I certainly don't have the patience! The Doctor may be willing to listen to your prattling, but I am not!"

The Master moved to go around Jamie, but the piper darted out in front of him again, still holding the knife out.

"Ye're nae going any further until ye tell me e'erything ye know aboot the Valeyard!" Jamie insisted.

"What makes you think that I know anything about this… Valeyard!?" the Master demanded.

"Because ye're the one who told me aboot him in the first place!" Jamie said. "Or… ye will. It was a different one of ye."

"That is not possible," the Master said, with a roll of his eyes. "First of all, I do not see why I would bother trying to tell you anything. Secondly, my regenerations… Well, let's just say that I cannot change my appearance so freely."

Jamie's shoulders slumped in disappointment.

"Ye really don' know…" he realized. "Aye, forget it, then. Just forget I e'er said anything."

The Master now continued down the corridor with Jamie right behind him.

"Suppose you tell me about this Valeyard," the Master said, after a moment.

"It's… difficult to explain," Jamie said, with a sigh. "I don' know where t' begin. He is sort of the Doctor, but—"

"Allow me to save you the trouble," the Master responded, suddenly grasping Jamie's left wrist with his hand.

Jamie yelped, but then realized that the Master was using touch-telepathy on him, just as the Doctor did at times. The only difference, Jamie realized, was that the Doctor almost always asked for permission before peeking into his head.

Nevertheless, the piper didn't struggle, but he did bring the knife in his right hand slightly closer.

"That wasn't a Gallifreyan body I had," the Master stated. "It looked like a Trakenite body. Thank you for that information."

"What aboot the Valeyard?" Jamie reminded him, through gritted teeth.

"Unfortunately, I cannot tell you anything about the Valeyard, as it seems that it is something I will learn later on," the Master said. "Or, perhaps, this is a stable time loop—I learn from you, and then teach you so that you learn from me."

"That doesnae help anyone, then," Jamie said, bitterly.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. Now I know where to go to get a new body."

Jamie flinched, pitying the poor Trakenite who would eventually lose his body to the Master.

"Forget aboot that now," the piper said. "Ye've known the Doctor longer than I have. How… easy do ye think it'd be for the Valeyard to grow and get stronger?"

"There's no way to tell," the Master said, as they arrived at a room that held a food machine similar to the one on the Doctor's TARDIS. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that the Doctor has this Valeyard festering in his hearts. It's as I told him—we are not as different as others would think."

"Aye, is that so? Well, I willnae let him become what ye turned into," Jamie vowed. "I can keep him good."

"Can you be so certain of that?" the Master said. "What you said about me applies to him—he's nothing but a crocodile. And you can't trust a crocodile."

"And ye heard me tell him that I trust him," Jamie shot back. "I know I'm doing my part to keep the Valeyard at bay. I saw what the Doctor's life would have been withoot me. He would have absorbed the Great Intelligence, which would have started to draw the Valeyard oot earlier."

"And how would you know of this?" the Master queried. "Alternate universes are not so easily accessible."

"I just happened to—och, no!" Jamie exclaimed, as the Master gripped his wrist again to read his thoughts.

"I see…" the Master mused. "The Great Intelligence attempted to corrupt the Doctor's timestream, and when you threw yourself out of the Doctor's timestream to stop it, it ended up sending you to this alternate universe. …And who is this Clara Oswald?"

"She scattered herself across the Doctor's timestream to stop the Intelligence; it's how the Doctor was restored to normal e'en after I came back to this universe," Jamie admitted, dully. "I don' really know who she is."

"Whoever she is, she may prove to be useful someday," the Master muttered, as he released Jamie's wrist.

"Well, it's no use trying to look inside my memories; I wouldnae know where to find her. So ye just forget aboot her, too."

The Master merely responded with a smirk as he now retrieved a tray of coffee and handed it to Jamie. The piper took a step back, suspicious, which prompted the Master to roll his eyes again.

"I told you, we are currently working towards the same objective," the Master reminded him. "And now it seems as though you are correct that we have another objective. Whoever this Valeyard is, it is clear that he is a threat to me; I am not eager to see him gain his existence. And you, of course, have your own reasons for preventing his existence."

"Aye, of course."

"Then you may relax," the Master pointed out. "I have a reason for keeping you alive as long as possible, don't I?"

"I think so?" Jamie asked, unsure.

"Then you have nothing to worry about. Make yourself useful and carry that back to the console room."

"Ye go first; I want ye where I can see ye."

The Master exhaled in vexation, but agreed once again.

"I shall do my best to find out about this Valeyard so that my future self can properly inform you," he said.

"Aye, and in the meantime, I'll keep doing what I'm doing now t' keep the Valeyard at bay," Jamie promised.

"You do realize, of course, that your role in the Doctor's life is limited?" the Master reminded him.

"Aye, I know I'm only a mortal human with a limited lifespan—"

"Your lifespan? I wasn't referring to that," the Master said. "The Doctor's attention is a fickle thing—and who should know better than me?"

"What…?" Jamie asked, flatly.

"Just as you have taken my place in the Doctor's life, so will someone take yours," the Master informed him, plainly. "The other Doctor I usually have dealings with is currently traveling with a young lady named Josephine Grant."

"He cannae help that I'm nae here anymore," Jamie said, realizing that the Master was trying to drive a wedge between him and the Doctor. "I know he has other people he travels with after me; I've met some of them. And all of those other Doctors were glad t' see me again, which is more than can be said for the Doctor seeing ye."

"Just tell me one thing," the Master said. "Until you met me, did the Doctor ever mention me before? Keep in mind that this was before our disagreement on Darkheart."

"No…" Jamie admitted.

"If the Doctor cast me from his mind after our initial parting of ways, what makes you think that you will be a permanent fixture in his mind when the time comes for you to leave him?"

"We promised we wouldnae forget each other," Jamie retorted, not falling for the Master's bait. "Look, I know what ye're trying t' do, and it won' work. There's one major difference between ye and me—ye may have known the Doctor longer, but ye're also the one who turned against him! E'en now—yer main concern aboot the Valeyard is that he poses a threat t' ye, while I am concerned for the Doctor's mind and well-being!" Jamie smirked. "I know why ye're trying t' do this—ye cannae stand that the Doctor thinks more of me now than ye does of ye!"

The Master stopped in his tracks to turn back and glare at him.

"Don't mistake me for being so petty," he ordered, a little too quickly to be believable. "And while you are at it, do remember that unless we solve the problem with the vortex and the weather, anything regarding the Valeyard and the Doctor's future—as well as our own—will be rendered completely inconsequential. Since you clearly lack the intellectual capabilities to aid us in this current problem, you will be in charge of providing the coffee."

Jamie's smirk turned down into a scowl as they continued on their way back to the console room once more; the Doctor looked relieved to see that Jamie was alright, as they had been gone longer than he would have liked.

The piper gave the Doctor a nod to reassure that he was alright before pouring out the coffee, bitter that none of his efforts had provided any fruit.


	8. A Terrible Fate

Jamie spent the next few hours pouring out the coffee on demand. Zoe didn't require much, having pulled all-nighters on more than one occasion during her days on the Wheel, but Salamander seemed to find some enjoyment in snapping his fingers every so often so that Jamie could serve him—something that earned him a rather nasty glare from the Doctor whenever he did so.

In addition, the Brigadier, Benton, and Yates needed coffee to stay awake and remain on guard, but they had refused to partake of the Master's coffee and had another member of the UNIT squad deliver some to them. The UNIT member had, on instructions from the Brigadier, also brought blankets for Jamie and Victoria, who wouldn't need to stay awake all night long as the others would.

Jamie didn't really care about anything as long as it meant less work from him, but as Victoria wrapped herself in one of the blankets and quickly drifted off, the piper found himself longing to take a break and sleep.

"McCrimmon!" Salamander barked, snapping his fingers again.

Muttering oaths under his breath, Jamie refilled Salamander's coffee as the Doctor once again responded with a glare.

"Jamie is _not_ your personal servant!" he snapped.

"You forget, Doctor—he was once my personal guard," Salamander replied, smugly. "Though I did have him arrested, I never officially terminated his employment."

"Aye? Then I quit!" Jamie exclaimed, setting the coffeepot down after he had finished dispensing the refill. "I am going t' get some sleep." He paused. "And I want all my back pay, too!"

"The space-time continuum is going to be destroyed, and you are concerned about money, huh?" Salamander queried.

"Pay him no mind, Jamie," the Doctor said, as the Scot was readying a retort. "He's just trying to be difficult."

"Something you are quite familiar with," the Master intoned.

"Just get some sleep," the Doctor continued, ignoring him. "Things will hopefully look better for all of us in the morning."

"Aye," Jamie said. "Goodnight, Doctor."

"Goodnight, Jamie," the Doctor replied, giving him a warm smile.

Jamie resisted the temptation to give the Master a smug look as he bid goodnight to Zoe and to the three UNIT members before grabbing his blanket and retreating to an unoccupied spot along the circular wall of the console room.

He let out a quiet yawn as he sat down, wrapping himself in the blanket. Casting one last look over at the crew of four working at the console, Jamie sought out the Doctor. He was back to focusing on the calculations, but Jamie was appreciative of the fact that the Doctor had taken a moment to wish him goodnight.

The piper closed his eyes and nestled deeper in the blanket. Even since the beginning of Jamie's stay on the TARDIS, the Doctor had treated him very warmly. Something between them had quickly connected, and Jamie recalled distinctly that he, though initially cautious, had warmed up to the Doctor very quickly during their misadventure in Atlantis. From then on, they had only seemed to grow closer. And the testament to how close they were was reflected in how, despite the Time Lords' best efforts to separate them, they had still managed to find each other again. That hiccup aside, the last thirteen years had been even more wonderful than he could have ever imagined.

Even more than the things he had seen and places he had been had been the kindness and love that the Doctor had shown him. Even though the Doctor could be ruthless and merciless towards threats, the one thing that always remained constant was that he still had compassion and love in his hearts. And that was what made the prospect of the Valeyard so frightening for Jamie; it wasn't the Valeyard's ruthlessness that horrified the piper, but the fact that for the brief instant that he had locked eyes with the Valeyard, Jamie saw that there wasn't a single shred of love or compassion in him.

The worst thing to see, of course, had been what his Doctor had looked like in the alternate universe. Jamie seeing the Valeyard with no love in his eyes had been bad enough; seeing _his_ Doctor with no love in his eyes had been even worse. And that was why Jamie had vowed that as long as he was alive, he would do his best to ensure that the Valeyard did not get a hold on the Doctor.

It was these thoughts that filled the piper's mind as he drifted off to sleep and began to lapse into the Dream World.

* * *

_Jamie was standing out on a vast, grassy expanse. Night had fallen upon this unfamiliar place, but something about it didn't seem right. Looking up, Jamie was surprised to see that there were no stars visible in the sky; instead, the moon, larger than the piper could ever have imagined it to get, seemed to engulf the sky. The brightness of the moon, now so much closer than normal, had obscured the stars from view._

_The piper stared at the moon for a while, until he was suddenly aware of the sounds of a struggle—shouts and the sounds of fists striking, coming from a wooded area not too far away; whoever was out there was close by, but obscured by trees. Jamie hesitated for a moment before realizing that he recognized one of the voices._

"_Doctor…!" he gasped, running towards the wooded area._

_After slipping past a few trees, Jamie could see the Doctor attempting to make an escape from his unseen attacker. The bright moonlight fell upon the Time Lord, revealing a painful-looking bruise on his cheek and a bleeding cut on his forehead._

"_Doctor, over here!" Jamie called, shuddering at his condition._

_The Doctor looked up, hope filling his harrowed features at last._

"_Jamie…?!"_

_Jamie started towards him, but froze as someone now stepped out from the other direction; the Doctor paled, turning around to face his assailant._

"_Who are you!?" the Doctor demanded._

_Jamie stepped closer, trying to get a good look at the Doctor's foe. He had been expecting Salamander or the Master; instead, it was a tall, cold-looking being—one that Jamie had seen only once before._

"_The Valeyard…" the Scot whispered, fear seemingly taking hold of his throat._

_The Doctor continued to stare down the Valeyard, completely unaware that he was looking at a twisted offshoot of himself._

"_What do you want from me!?" the Doctor demanded, sounding a lot braver than he felt. "I assume you have some other purpose besides trying to knock me senseless! So what is it you want!? Out with it, then!"_

"_Your regenerations," the being hissed._

_Instead of sounding afraid, the Doctor merely responded with an annoyed huff._

"_Certainly not!" he retorted. "I have uses for those regenerations; I'm not about to let some overdressed upstart take them from me!"_

_The Valeyard's eyes narrowed angrily, prompting Jamie to run out into the open, placing himself between them._

"_Jamie!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Jamie, get back!"_

"_Doctor, run! Get oot of here!" the piper ordered, staring into the cold eyes of the Valeyard. "I'll cover yer escape!"_

_The Valeyard took a step towards Jamie, but whatever he had been planning to do was preempted by the Doctor seizing Jamie's arm, pulling him with him as he ran. Though grateful that the piper had been willing to sacrifice himself for his sake, the Doctor certainly had no intentions of letting that happen._

_The Doctor and Jamie darted through the trees, scrambling back towards the open field that Jamie had been standing in a moment ago. The duo glanced behind them, but the Valeyard had vanished._

"_Jamie, thank you," the Doctor said, exhausted from their sprint. "Getting ambushed by whoever that was didn't look as though it would've ended well."_

"_Aye, ye're hurt," Jamie said, looking at the visible injuries on the Doctor's face—and realizing that there were probably more injuries that he couldn't see. "What happened to ye, Doctor?"_

"_I don't really know," the Time Lord admitted. "I was looking for you, and the next thing I knew, someone attacked me in the dark."_

"_I'm glad I found ye," Jamie said._

"_So am I," the Doctor said, with a smile. "But I do wonder who that was—and why he wanted my regenerations. Obviously he must be a Gallifreyan; they wouldn't be of use to any other species."_

"_Aye…" Jamie said, knowing that he had to maintain his silence._

"_I wouldn't put it past Goth to send someone after me; you know how he hates to see me happy…" The Doctor trailed off as he finally noticed that the moonlight was far too bright to be normal. "Oh, my word…! Jamie, look at the moon!"_

"_Aye; it's gotten bigger in the sky."_

"_Far too large!" the Doctor said. "Something must have happened to its orbit—it's on a collision course with Earth!"_

"_Oh, aye-_what_!?" the piper exclaimed, as the Doctor's words sunk in. "Collide!? …Is there a way to stop it!?"_

"_I don't know!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Patching up my injuries can wait; we must find a way to stop it first!"_

"_I can stop it for you, Doctor," the Valeyard said, as he emerged from the wooded area now. "But there is a price I demand in exchange."_

"_Yes, and I know exactly what that price is," the Doctor sighed._

"_Don' ye pay it," Jamie ordered. "We can get oot of here in the TARDIS—and save whoever we can. But if he takes yer regenerations, we're all lost!"_

_The Doctor cast a glance at the moon before grabbing Jamie's arms; slowly, he pulled him back, trying to distance them from the Valeyard._

"_Jamie, I want you to run."_

"_No! I cannae leave ye!"_

"_But, Jamie—Oh, Jamie! Stop! Look out behind us!"_

_The piper looked back, gasping as the grassy expanse suddenly ended at the edge of a cliff overlooking a deep body of water. The Doctor had his arms around Jamie, worried that he might fall, but the piper broke free from his hold as the Valeyard approached them._

_Jamie stepped forward now, trying to block the Valeyard from reaching the Doctor again, but the Valeyard responded by suddenly using his telepathic powers to probe into Jamie's mind. The piper cringed, crying out in pain._

"_Stop!" the Doctor cried. "Stop it now! He can't handle a mind probe!"_

"_Then you will surrender your regenerations to spare him this pain?" the Valeyard asked, without missing a beat._

_There was a brief pause._

"_Yes."_

"_No!" Jamie pleaded. "No, if he gets yer regenerations, we're all lost! Please, Doctor; I can handle a wee bit of pain!"_

_But the Doctor's hands started glowing with a golden light as the Valeyard walked past Jamie, aiming to claim his prize. The Scot turned, watching as the Valeyard slowly extended a hand towards the Doctor's glowing ones. And something snapped._

_Forgetting about the pain in his head, and forgetting about the consequences of what he was about to do, Jamie rushed towards them, tackling the Valeyard from behind before he could claim the regeneration energy._

_This, of course, led to both Jamie and the Valeyard free-falling off of the cliff, heading for the water._

_It was all over in seconds; Jamie was vaguely aware of both the Doctor's agonized cries of his name and the Valeyard's furious yell. The last thing the piper saw before he lost all awareness was the moon in the sky growing larger as it drew closer. Wherever Jamie ended up, he would, at least, meet the Doctor there._

* * *

Jamie let out a shrill gasp as he awoke from his nightmare. He blinked several times as he looked around, finally realizing that he had been asleep in the Master's console room the entire time.

"Jamie?"

The Scot looked up to see the Doctor looking at him with concern.

"You must have been having an incredibly involved dream," the Doctor said, kindly. "Are you alright?"

"Aye, of course. It was just a dream," Jamie said, relived that it had been. He looked around again, noticing that Victoria was already up and about, listening to what the Master, Salamander, and Zoe were talking about, and that the UNIT members were still on guard. "How long have I been asleep? What time is it?"

"You were asleep all night," the Doctor said. "It's just after sunrise—though you can't really tell with the storm out there."

Jamie froze, realizing the significance of the Doctor's words.

"Ye di'n figure oot how to fix it," he realized.

"No, Jamie," the Doctor said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. Nothing has worked. And now we only have 48 hours left."


	9. Petty, Little Battles

Jamie was still trying to grasp the Doctor's words as he suddenly became aware of the Brigadier speaking up now, addressing the Master and Salamander with an unashamedly accusatory tone.

"Do you mean to tell me that even after an entire night working nonstop, you are no closer than where we were yesterday!?" he demanded. "I half-wonder if you're giving a sincere effort!"

"I am certain the Master is," Victoria said. "He already pointed out that his life is in danger, as well."

"Och, that doesnae mean that he's nae holding oot on some idea that could save us!" Jamie said. "Ye're so quick to come t' his defense, aren't ye!?"

"Jamie, I thought we were past all this!" Victoria said. "We all need to work together and trust each other in order to succeed!"

"Work together, aye!" Jamie said, as the Doctor tried, in vain, to calm him down. "But we don' have t' blindly trust those who have stabbed us in the back!"

"And what's your story?" the Brigadier now asked Salamander, turning to him next. "You're the one who built that machine in the first place. Why haven't you come up with anything?"

The former dictator gave him a piercing glare.

"_¡Te quedas ahí como un pavo real y demandas respuestas_!" he retorted. "I suppose you think you can do better, huh? If you cannot try to help instead of standing there with your gun pointed at us, then keep quiet and let us work!"

Again, the argument broke out even louder, and, again, Zoe had to yell for quiet to get everyone to stop.

"Are we going to stand here and argue for the rest of the 48 hours, or can we at least try to come up with some fresh approaches to our problem!?" she asked, glaring at everyone. Seeing that they had stopped fighting, she calmed down. "Doctor, you've been rather quiet. Is the situation truly beyond hope?"

"Not yet, by any means," the Doctor assured her. "We may have exhausted our current bag of tricks, but we still have two more days with which to find some more tricks to try. And that means that we must continue trying to solve this problem together."

"_Si_, but some of us here are helping considerably less than others," Salamander pointed out.

It was the Brigadier's turn to give him a glare, but he did have to silently agree that, aside from standing guard, there was little that he, Benton, and Yates were able to do at the moment. But, perhaps, that could change.

"Captain Yates," he said, now turning to his men. "I want you to keep an eye on things here. In the meantime, I intend to return to UNIT Headquarters and return with some of our scientists to see what they can do."

"I have seen your scientists; there is nothing they can do to help us," the Master said, dully, before Yates could reply.

"I'm afraid he's probably right, Brigadier," Zoe admitted. "The programming used here is very advanced. I doubt that any scientist from this time period could make sense out of this coding."

"Oh, very well," the Brigadier sighed. "Am I to presume, then, that chances are highly probable that the worst will happen, and that I should instruct my men to prepare for a mass evacuation of the British populace?"

"Where to?" the Master asked, incredulously. "I am highly curious, Brigadier, as to where you think is the best place to go in the event of an explosion that will have an effect on the entire universe. I do so hate to disillusion you, but there is nothing that you can do for your men or your species."

The Brigadier gave the Master a long stare.

"We shall have to see about that," he declared, at last. "Captain Yates, you are in charge here until I return. Keep me informed of any developments. I'll see to it that you and Benton are provided breakfast and a rest period."

"Yes, Sir," the captain replied. "…What shall I tell the men here, Sir? In regards to the current situation?"

"I shall inform you of what to say once I figure out what to tell the men back at Headquarters."

"Yes, I imagine it must be difficult to find the proper way to inform people to face their deaths with dignity," the Master said.

The Doctor now quipped something at him in Gallifreyan.

"Death is a fate that awaits us all," the Master replied, in English. "Neither you nor I are immune to it."

"Yes, but you, I know, are no seeker of death," the Doctor said. "Now stop with all that taunting; it's not helping things." He turned to the Brigadier. "Take care with that storm; if there's anything you can do, we shall let you know. There is still hope, you know. Don't give up on things just yet."

The Brigadier nodded. Taking one last look at Yates and Benton, he departed the Master's TARDIS.

Zoe sighed.

"Shall we get back to work?" she said.

"You simply must have some breakfast, Zoe," the Doctor said, kindly. "In fact, I think some calories will be good for our mental processing capabilities. Wouldn't you agree, Kosch—Master?"

The Master didn't look amused.

"Er, perhaps not all of us need calories," the Doctor said. "You see, I've had this problem ever since I'd been partially converted into an Androgum. The residual effects have included an increased appetite—"

"I don't need to hear of your escapades; I've heard of them already," the Master interrupted. "And I hope you don't expect me to continue to provide nourishment for you and the humans."

"Ah. Of course," the Doctor said. "Jamie, can you do us a favor and please get some food from UNIT so that we don't have to bother the Master again to get us something? I think that would be best."

"Aye, but will ye be alright withoot me here?" Jamie asked.

"I'll be quite alright," he promised, with a smile. "I am sorry for sending you out in the rain—"

"I've been through worse," Jamie assured him, smiling back. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

Jamie gave the Doctor's arm a squeeze before exiting the Master's TARDIS and climbing down the trunk of the TARDIS's tree form. It was as he approached the UNIT vehicle that he heard the Brigadier's voice over the rain, sounding furious.

"Do you mean to tell me that this is the only UNIT vehicle left!?" the Brigadier was demanding. "Where did the other three go?"

"I don't know, Sir," a young corporal replied, nervously standing at attention beside the remaining soldiers. "The other three left just before dawn—something about receiving orders from Captain Yates, Sir. I didn't question them."

"It's impossible for Captain Yates to have given any orders; he was with me, standing guard over Salamander and the Master!" the Brigadier said. "Sergeant Benton can also confirm that!"

Jamie stepped closer, looking around, as though trying to find any clues as to how any orders could have been transmitted, but he wasn't quite sure as to what he was looking for.

The other UNIT soldiers were also at a loss to explain what was going on, and the Brigadier soon calmed down.

"Very well," he said to the soldiers who were present. "I thank you for staying here at your posts, and you are hereby instructed to continue doing so until you hear otherwise—from me."

The soldiers agreed, saluting.

"Brigadier," Jamie said, speaking now.

"Yes, McCrimmon?"

"Do ye suppose the missing soldiers were scared off because they sensed something verra wrong with the storm?"

"I should hope not," the Brigadier said. "And until I find out exactly what happened, I should prefer to give them the benefit of the doubt. More than likely, there was some miscommunication; I'll attempt to decipher what happened when I return to Headquarters. I shall have to take this vehicle, though; I'll have some more sent here, along with more men and provisions."

"Aye, but can I take the food to the others in the TARDIS before ye go?"

"Yes, of course; leave some for the soldiers here and take some for Benton and Yates, too, won't you? I promised them something to eat before this confusion started." He turned to the corporal and the soldier standing beside him. "After you two eat, I'd like you to relieve Benton and Yates for a while; don't trust anything the Master says, and be doubtful of Salamander, as well. Just make sure that neither of them attacks any of the others in that room. Oh, and McCrimmon? Can you do me a favor and explain to Yates about what's been happening here?"

"Aye, I'll try," Jamie said, as he started placing the covered food trays in a small blanket to create a carry-able bundle. "What are ye hoping t' accomplish back at Headquarters?"

"_Something_," the Brigadier replied. "I can't believe that I have to remain completely useless in this endeavor. There are people in direct danger—my men among them—and I simply cannot be satisfied until I am certain I've done everything in my power to have attempted to help them."

"Aye, I know," Jamie sighed. "I feel rather useless right now, too."

"Hopefully, you and I can both prove to be of some assistance before this is all over," the Brigadier said, as Jamie and the corporal finished up handing out the rations to the present soldiers. "You've got everything?"

"Aye. Ye be careful; I'm sure there'll be some flooding on the roads after all this rain."

"This vehicle should be able to handle it," the Brigadier assured him. "Oh, there's one other thing…"

The Brigadier retrieved a piece of paper and wrote something on it. After signing it, he slid the piece of paper inside a plastic sleeve to protect it from the rain and then handed it to Jamie.

"What's this?" the piper inquired.

"Because you're a civilian, you would be restricted from accessing the UNIT equipment unsupervised, and no one here would have to answer to you," the Brigadier explained. "That paper is a pass that says that I have given you access to anything you or the Doctor would need, as well as given you the authority to question any of the UNIT personnel if need be. I know you'll be fetching food and other items for the others while they work, but I would like you to see if you can help Captain Yates find out about the miscommunications that have been going on. Perhaps that will help you feel like you're able to help with something, rather than just wishing you could."

"Aye, thanks," Jamie said. "And I hope ye find something t' do, too."

The Brigadier thanked him and soon drove off in the UNIT vehicle. Jamie pondered over the pass that the Brigadier had given him, grateful that the Brigadier placed that much trust in him.

Reminding himself that he had to deliver food to the others, Jamie placed the pass in his sporran and carried the bundle of food to the Master's TARDIS, trying a long piece of twine to the bundle and carrying the other end of the twine in his teeth as he climbed up the tree again. Once on the upper branches, Jamie pulled the food up and carried it inside.

"Breakfast!" he announced, with a smile.

"Oh, that's lovely, Jamie," the Doctor said, genuinely grateful as the piper handed the food over to him. "Yes, I believe that this will be exactly what we need. Though I think we ought to eat while we work, don't you agree, Zoe?"

"Yes, it would seem like the most efficient way to handle this," she agreed.

"Just don't get crumbs on my console," the Master ordered, not hungry enough to bother with the food.

Salamander took his food without so much as a word, prompting Jamie to roll his eyes and then hand a tray of food to Victoria, who thanked him.

It was as he handed the food to Benton and Yates that Jamie brought up what the Brigadier had asked him to.

"Ye'll have two people here t' relieve ye for a while," Jamie concluded, after describing the situation as best he could. "We're nae quite sure what caused the confusion, or why they thought ye gave any orders."

"I can't imagine why they would think I gave any orders," Yates agreed, thoroughly baffled.

"Aye, the Brigadier e'en said that ye were here all night and ne'er left," Jamie agreed.

"And there's no word on where I supposedly told them to go?" Yates asked.

Jamie shrugged.

"The Brigadier was thinking after yer replacements get here, I could help ye find oot some things," Jamie said. "If it's alright with the Doctor, I'd like to, since there isnae much I can do here."

Yates nodded.

"I'll admit that the problems here take precedence, but, as you say, there isn't much we can do. Very well; you go see if the Doctor is alright with it, and we'll go ask around after breakfast."

Jamie nodded and wandered back to the Doctor, hoping that he could be of some use.


	10. One Who Will Not Falter

The Doctor certainly didn't mind that Jamie wanted to go around and ask about what was happening with UNIT.

"Oh, not at all, Jamie," the Doctor said, as he nibbled on the rations as he worked. "I will admit that you are sort of like a muse to me, but if you think you would rather lend your services to aid in whatever situation is going on with UNIT, go right ahead."

"I hope I can be of some help to them; the Brigadier seemed to think I could be," Jamie said, finishing his own breakfast.

"I could have told you that, as well," the Doctor said.

"Doctor, we have better things to do than stoke the ego of an ape," the Master reminded him, coldly.

Jamie quietly hurled another oath at the Master before turning back to the Doctor.

"Ye look after yerself while I'm oot, aye?" Jamie asked. He then spoke loudly to ensure that the Master and Salamander would hear him. "I'll keep coming back to check up on ye. Frequently."

"You do that, Jamie," the Doctor said, giving him a fond smile before sobering slightly. "I am sorry about all of this, you know…"

"Aye, I know," Jamie said. "But I know better than t' listen to some crocodile who betrays his own kind."

"I certainly am glad of that," the Doctor said. "Mind that you don't stay too long in that downpour without some proper coverage. Be sure to keep as warm and as dry as you can…."

The Doctor would have fretted a bit more over Jamie had the Master not uttered something in Gallifreyan—in an exasperated tone. The piper glared at the Master one more time before heading back to Yates and Benton, who were also just finishing their meal.

Soon, two other UNIT soldiers arrived, and Jamie left the Master's TARDIS with the captain and the sergeant.

By this point in time, some more UNIT vehicles—five in total—had arrived, along with more reinforcements and provisions. Benton went to get things organized as Jamie and Yates began to question the soldiers who had been there since the previous night.

"You are absolutely certain it was my voice?" the captain was asking.

"We never heard the communications, Sir," the corporal from earlier had said. "But I would think that they would know your voice."

"Unless they were fleeing," Jamie said. "I mentioned that t' the Brigadier, but he di'n want t' think that."

"And I don't want to think of it, either," Yates admitted. "Let's focus on this now. I've got a few more questions to ask here, but you said that the Brigadier gave you a pass; can you inspect the communications of this particular vehicle?"

"Aye, but I'm nae sure what I'll be looking at," Jamie admitted.

"I can help you," the corporal offered, having seen the Brigadier give Jamie the pass. "I'm the one who drove this up here."

Jamie nodded, following the corporal to the front of the vehicle.

"The communications of all of our vehicles are identical," the corporal explained. "We use the same, secure wavelength for our communications."

"How secure is it?" Jamie inquired.

"Well… We'd like to think it's as secure as we can get it. Do you think it may have been breached?"

"I don' know," Jamie admitted. "Och, I'm nae the one t' ask aboot these things."

"The Brigadier wouldn't have given you access to them without reason," the corporal said.

"I know, I know…" Jamie said. He paused, thinking for a moment. "Are the transmissions recorded?"

"All communications we receive at UNIT Headquarters are recorded," the corporal said. "We don't record vehicle-to-vehicle transmissions, however. I think, after this, we should start doing so."

"Aye," Jamie agreed. "If we'd had a sample of the recordings, we could have compared them to the captain's voice. E'n withoot trying t' compare them, I wish there was some way we could find out what orders were given last night."

"There is a way," the corporal realized. "We can try getting in touch with the three vehicles. Assuming they haven't met with foul play on account of a trap, we can attempt to figure out what has happened."

"Aye, that sounds like a great idea," Jamie said. "Can ye help me work this?"

"Oh, yes; hold on…" The corporal took a moment to set up the communicator. After a moment, he nodded. "Since it's the same wavelength, all three vehicles can hear you, assuming things are alright. This is vehicle 59; the ones who left were 56 through 58."

Jamie nodded and picked up the transmitted.

"Ah, hello? This is UNIT vehicle 59, calling vehicles 56, 57, and 58," the piper said, slightly nervous. "This is James Robert McCrimmon, civilian, acting with authority granted by Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. Can ye hear me?"

Only the crackle of static answered the piper.

"No answer…" he said, his face falling.

"It could be because of the weather," the corporal said, also disappointed. "Don't assume the worst just yet."

"I hope that's all it is, and nae some trick by the Master and Salamander," Jamie fretted. "They might have tried to draw the reinforcements away for some reason—maybe t' attack us in case things do work oot…" He trailed off as a garbled response came from the receiver. "Hello? Hello!? Och, I cannae hear ye!"

A broken transmission issued from the receiver.

"…Vehicle… 57… Read you…"

"It's 57!" Jamie exclaimed. "It's 57! They're alright! Ah, hello, 57? Ye're all broken up; can ye speak a wee bit more clearly?"

"I think this is as good as you're going to get it," the corporal sighed, looking up at the storm.

"Aye, probably. Hello, 57? I need t' know what were the orders that Captain Yates gave ye last night!" There was no response, prompting Jamie to repeat the question until another garbled transmission was received—

"Captain… in trouble… emergency… asked backup… A9 Road. Still… on our way. Weather impeding progress. "

"What's the A9 Road?" Jamie asked, baffled.

"You ought to know—you're Scottish," the corporal said. He paused as Jamie gave him a blank look. "You know—the great, big road that runs all the way northward to the Highlands? Vehicles travel through it like lifeblood."

"…I havenae been home in a long, long time," Jamie said, dreading the thought of some modern road running smack through his homeland.

"Oh," the corporal said. "Well, anyway, at least we know that vehicle 57 is alright. They'd have said if anything had happened to 56 and 58; they should be alright, too. The question is what do we do now?"

"What do ye mean?"

"Well, I can't tell them to turn around and come back; I don't have that authority," the corporal said. "But you do. You have to decide whether or not to tell them to disobey the orders that they think Captain Yates gave them."

Jamie blinked in surprise.

"I have t' decide that? Shouldnae Captain Yates be the one to decide?"

"He can, of course," the corporal said. "But he seems to be preoccupied right now with the questioning. You'll have to think quickly; the way this storm is getting, you may have trouble trying to reach vehicle 57 the further north they go."

Jamie thought for a moment.

"I need another opinion," he decided. "I'll be right back."

He hopped out of vehicle 59 and dashed past a puzzled Captain Yates, relaying to him, as well, that he would return quickly.

He clambered up the tree and reentered the Master's TARDIS.

"Doctor!" he exclaimed. "Doctor, I need to ask ye something!"

"Yes, Jamie?" the Doctor said, looking up from his calculations.

"Make it quick," the Master ordered. "We were about to try out a new coding sequence."

"I have a question aboot the way time and space work in situations like this," Jamie said, ignoring the Master. "Would ye say that since space and time are already going bad, they would begin to show effects of that?"

"I suppose so," the Doctor said. "After all, you had visions of the future on Neo Serenity as a result of taking in some of the time vortex's energy. A lot of strange things could be happening."

"Such as people being in two places at the same time?"

The Doctor blinked.

"What exactly is going on?"

"Captain Yates was here in this TARDIS all night, but somehow, he was in Scotland last night at the same time and was calling the vehicles here for backup," Jamie explained. "I wanted to know if that was possible, or if it's a trick by… someone." He cast a suspicious glance at the Master, who ignored him.

"I see…" the Doctor said. "Well, time is relative, you know. It could be that, in his future, the captain is in Scotland, remembered the vehicles here, and, desperate, called to them for help."

"Aye, I suppose," Jamie said. "So it is possible, then. Now we have t' decide what t' do aboot those vehicles on their way to Scotland."

"Is everything alright?" Victoria asked.

"I hope so," the piper responded. He turned back to the Doctor. "Thanks, Doctor. I'm sorry t' keep ye from yer important work."

"Oh, Jamie, don't bother about that—"

"Yes, he must bother; he is consistently underfoot," the Master hissed. "How you can stand him, I don't know. You would both do well to remember that we are on borrowed time!"

The Doctor gave Jamie an apologetic glance before going back to work. Jamie watched them for a moment before heading back outside to vehicle 59.

"The corporal has just been telling me what happened," Yates said. "We need to call those vehicles back at once."

"Ye may nae want t' do that," Jamie warned. "That's what I went back for—to ask the Doctor if it's possible for a person t' be in two places at once. He said it can happen due to time travel."

"…Except that I'm not the one traveling through time," Yates pointed out. "It's Miss Grant who does all the traveling with the Doctor now. Mind you, I wouldn't say no to a chance at it; Miss Grant is always telling these tales of the places she's been and the people she's met in those places."

"There's a chance ye may in the future," Jamie pointed out.

"What future? At the rate things are going, we might not have a future," Yates sighed. He picked up the transmitter and attempted to contact vehicle 57, but he heard nothing but static.

"Why don' we ask the Brigadier what to do?" Jamie suggested.

"He's got his hands full trying to figure out what to do at H.Q.; I wouldn't make things even more difficult for him," Yates replied. "I daresay we can handle this on our own. All I know is that I never gave any order for those three vehicles to go to Scotland; based on that alone, I think we ought to call them back. But we can't seem to get in touch with them at all, anyway, and I can't stand around here all day until we do."

"I can," Jamie said. He sighed as he remembered how the Master had chided him moments ago; though the Doctor certainly didn't agree with the Master, Jamie had to admit that the Doctor would probably be able to work better if Jamie wasn't there to distract him. "I've got nothing better t' do; I can sit here and keep trying t' get back in touch with the other vehicles. Do ye want me t' tell them t' turn around and come back?"

"Yes, do that, would you?" Yates said. "I appreciate this, McCrimmon." He turned to the corporal. "You can leave McCrimmon here and go back to your post; you'll be next on the rotation to stand guard in the tree—er, the Master's TARDIS, I mean."

The corporal saluted him and went back, and Yates soon left, too.

Jamie dutifully attempted to call the three vehicles every fifteen minutes. And as time ticked on, he still received no reply, beginning to think that the storm. Still, he stayed at the wheel of vehicle 59 for most of the day, taking a break only to deliver lunch and dinner to the others on board the Master's TARDIS, and making sure someone covered him while he was gone. Both times, the Doctor did stop to thank him, but nothing more, as the Master would soon pull him back into conversation to prevent Jamie from distracting him—and Jamie couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment each time. He still couldn't blame the Doctor, who was looking very guilty at not being able to talk more, as well as looking upset that the coding sequence from the morning seemed to have failed.

As the night drew on, Jamie soon found himself requiring coffee as he continued to attempt to contact the vehicles, with no success. The piper let out a quiet moan of defeat when morning broke; no word from anyone in the TARDIS meant that another night had gone by with no results, and only 24 hours remained.

Even if the Master was determined to keep the Doctor from speaking to him, Jamie decided that if he really did only have one day left to live, he wanted to spend it by the Doctor's side. His mind made up, Jamie was just about to exit the vehicle and get someone else to take his place when the communications line suddenly crackled to life.

"Hello…? McCrimmon!?" a voice asked through the static.

"Aye, this is Jamie McCrimmon!" the piper exclaimed. "Who is this!?"

There was a long pause before the voice spoke again.

"I know… hard to believe… this is… Captain Yates!"


	11. Lords of Time, Help Us, Please!

Jamie stared at the transmitter in wide-eyed shock for a moment before looking out of the window of the UNIT vehicle. He could clearly see Captain Yates climbing the Master's TARDIS's tree form, followed by Benton, ready to take over the watch again.

"Who is this really?" Jamie asked. "Ye're sounding uncannily like the captain, but ye cannae be—I can see him here with my own eyes!"

"McCrimmon… assure you… it's me!" the captain's voice crackled over the transmitter, fading in and out. "In Scotland… Three days… in the future!"

"How!?" Jamie asked.

"Doctor's… machine!"

"Eh? The Doctor's TARDIS is at UNIT Headquarters!"

"Call… Brigadier!" the other Yates pleaded. "Needs to bring… Doctor's TARDIS… to the tree!"

"How do I know this is nae a trap!?" Jamie countered. "It could be a ploy of the Master's to steal the Doctor's TARDIS!"

"McCrimmon… _please_…! …All is lost… otherwise! Not enough time… to stop the machine! Need more time to…"

Static filled the communications line. Even though had hadn't been convinced of the speaker's identity, Jamie still tried to contact him again. There was no reply this time; as Jamie looked up in vexation, he noticed that, amidst the rain outside, there was also sleet and snow falling from the sky, ruining any chances of getting back in touch with someone as far as Scotland.

"What now…?" the piper wondered, realizing that he would have to determine whether or not to take the (apparent) captain's plea to heart and call the Brigadier. With the weather getting worse by the minute, the window of getting in touch with the Brigadier might be closing. There wouldn't be time to ask for the Doctor's thoughts on the matter—or Yates, who was already up the tree. Jamie would have to make the decision himself—and quickly.

He shut his eyes, recalling a conversation he'd had with the Doctor shortly after he had started traveling with him—one of many, many conversations that they would have by the hearth in the Doctor's study…

"_Doctor, how do ye know that ye're choosing the right side?" Jamie had asked. "Whenever we have t' deal with two sides fighting, and each of them are telling ye different things, who do ye know who t' believe?"_

"_There's no easy way to answer that," the Doctor had admitted. "But you learn to trust your intuition. After all, it was your intuition that told you to spare my life at Culloden, despite the fact that you had no way of knowing which side I was really on. Just use that same intuition in a confusing situation, and things will turn out alright."_

Jamie snapped back to reality, exhaling as he picked up the transmitter again.

"UNIT Vehicle 59 to UNIT Headquarters," he said. "This is James Robert McCrimmon, civilian. I need t' speak t' Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart right away."

He repeated this a few times until the familiar voice of the Brigadier responded. The connection was poor, though not as bad as the connection with Yates had been. Still, Jamie knew he had to get the message through as soon as possible.

"McCrimmon? What's the latest?" the Brigadier was asking.

"I don' think there's been any progress on stopping the machine," he admitted. "But I think I've figured oot what was going on with Captain Yates's orders the night before last."

"Yes?"

"I cannae explain right now; I'll tell ye later," Jamie said. "Right now, I need ye to have the Doctor's TARDIS sent here, as soon as ye can."

"If he needs it that badly, I'll bring it there myself," the Brigadier vowed. "I should warn you, though, that it'll take me some time to travel in this weather—it's an hour's drive without this blasted weather added to the equation!"

"Aye, I know; we have one more day left, so ye can take a wee bit of time t' get here if ye need it. Be careful."

The Brigadier responded in the affirmative and the communication ended. Jamie sat there for a moment, praying that he had made the right decision. He then steeled himself as he stepped out of the UNIT vehicle, cursing as the cold precipitation mix struck him. He ran at top speed back to the Master's TARDIS, climbing up the trunk and entering through the doors, relieved at the warmth.

"Oh, _Jamie_!" the Doctor exclaimed.

The Doctor's arms were around him in an instant.

"Oh, you're so cold…" the Time Lord fussed, wrapping the piper in a blanket. "And you didn't come back here last night like I thought you were going to. I told you to stay out of that weather!"

"I was oot of it; I was in a UNIT vehicle all night, trying to contact the other vehicles," Jamie assured him. "I only was in the cold just now. It's snowing and icing along with the rain now."

"_Si_, we are aware of that," Salamander said. "The machine is going further out of control. And there is nothing we can do about it!" With a frustrated snarl, Salamander knocked a stack of calculations to the ground.

The Master was standing, quietly, but seemed to have admitted defeat, while Zoe looked crushed at having failed.

"Ye've given up?" Jamie asked.

"There's nothing we can do, Jamie," the Doctor said, unable to hide the despair in his eyes—a truly frightening look, and one that Jamie had never seen on the Doctor's face before. "We thought we had finally perfected the coding sequence that would have overridden the machine and shut it down. But when we tried to send the sequence to the machine… it never reached. The weather was interfering with the communications; it seems that the only way for it to work would be if we manually programmed the machine. But it's in Inverness, and we just couldn't reach it in time in this weather."

Salamander cursed again, staring from the Doctor to the Master.

"We have found the answer, but it is useless!" he said, glaring at the both of them. "You call yourselves 'Time Lords,' and yet we do not have enough time! You are not worthy of the title!"

"I already explained it to you," the Doctor said. "A single TARDIS doesn't have enough power to travel when the time vortex is in such a state!"

"It is true," the Master sighed, running a hand over his console. "I would not be able to move this one more than a few hours backwards in time."

"A single TARDIS…" Jamie repeated.

Something in his mind clicked. The weather machine was in Inverness—and the communications from the person claiming to be Captain Yates had been calling from somewhere in Scotland.

"Let me get one thing clear," Jamie said. "Ye have the final sequence ye need?"

"That's right," Zoe said. "All four of us have gone over this and have concluded that it is the proper sequence. But, as the Doctor said, we don't have the time to get to the machine. It would be a ten-hour drive normally, and in this weather, even longer."

"I spent the last couple of hours trying to assess whether or not we could get a helicopter or a small aeroplane in the air," Captain Yates added. He shook his head. "The weather won't allow for that, either. We can't communicate with anyone in Inverness—all communications are a mess, and the phone lines are down."

"And one TARDIS cannae travel there," Jamie said, remembering the plea that the other Yates had given him. "Aye, but, what aboot two TARDISes? Could ye combine the power of both of yer TARDISes and send us there?"

The Doctor gave Jamie a long look before exchanging a glance with the Master.

"If we drained all the reserve power from our TARDISes, do you think…?" the Doctor began.

The Master frowned.

"It wouldn't be enough to send us to where we need to be, and it will only work once," he said. "But it might buy us the time we need to get to Inverness."

"Then we _do_ have one last chance!?" Victoria exclaimed.

"It would seem so," the Master admitted. "Very well, Mr. McCrimmon; I must conceded that you are not completely useless after all."

"Of course he isn't useless; he is brilliant!" the Doctor exclaimed, clinging to Jamie and practically dancing around the console room with him. "Oh, Jamie, I do wish you hadn't been out all night; you could have given us this brilliant idea sooner!"

"It's partly because I was oot all night that I thought of it," Jamie admitted.

"Is that so? You can tell me all about it later," the Doctor said. "Now, we just need to get my TARDIS…" He trailed off, his face falling. "Oh, dear—she's in London! And we shall need time to connect our TARDISes to get this to work…"

"She's on her way here," Jamie said, with a smile. "I spoke to the Brigadier just before I returned here."

"Oh. Oh, well done, Jamie!"

"I cannae take all the credit," the piper admitted. "Captain Yates told me that we needed yer TARDIS."

"What!?" the captain asked. "That is impossible! Benton, did I ever say anything about the Doctor's TARDIS?"

Benton shook his head, baffled.

"It was the other ye," Jamie said. "The three vehicles that left the night before last really were responding to yer orders—orders that ye gave them from Scotland, because ye're obviously coming with us when we connect the TARDISes. I heard ye this morning over the communications line, saying that we needed the Doctor's TARDIS. I had t' decide whether or not to believe it, but I did and told the Brigadier—and now I realize why ye were saying that we needed her."

"All the same, Jamie, you were the one who put everything together coherently," the Doctor said. "And you may very well have saved us all!"

"Don't celebrate too soon," the Master warned. "Once your TARDIS gets here, we shall have to coordinate everything just so. And even then, there is the matter of getting to Inverness in whatever time our little ploy gives us." He turned to Salamander. "We shall also require your vortex manipulator for extra power."

"Why!?" Salamander barked.

"Oh, I see why," the Doctor said. "We shall need to take a UNIT vehicle with us to travel the rest of the way—and we shall need to wire it to your vortex manipulator, and wire that to our TARDISes."

Salamander clutched at the device around his wrist; even though it was useful now, he had been banking on using it to make a quick escape once things had been corrected with the vortex. More than that, he felt very vulnerable without it, afraid of being stranded in the vortex without it, just as he had been before. It had been because of the manipulator that he had managed to escape the vortex the second time he had been sent there, after the fiasco at Neo Serenity.

"We are all doomed to die unless you hand that over," the Doctor pointed out. "Whether or not you can escape the vortex won't matter much, then, will it?"

Salamander didn't reply, but he seemed to silently concede.

"I must begin preparations," the Master said. He rolled his eyes as Yates and Benton took a step forward. "As I said, I cannot guarantee your safety if you choose to venture beyond this console room."

"I will keep an eye on him," the Doctor assured everyone. "Zoe, you've been working nonstop; I think you could use a rest before the Brigadier arrives. You too, Jamie—I don't think you got any sleep last night, did you?"

"No, but I want t' stay with ye," Jamie said, quickly, as Zoe immediately ran for a blanket and curled up against the wall.

"Very well, then," the Doctor said, with a smile.

The Master didn't look too thrilled with this, but seemed to decide that having Jamie around would be useful for the physical work they would have to do. He headed off down the corridor, with the Doctor and Jamie behind him.

* * *

Jamie ended up carrying a lot of heavy cables around the Master's TARDIS as the Master and the Doctor arranged the specific things and set the controls in ways that the piper wouldn't have been able to understand.

A commotion outside drew everyone's attention, brought about by a UNIT vehicle arriving—with the Doctor's TARDIS secured to its roof. The Brigadier was soon out of the vehicle, ordering the nearby UNIT personnel to bring the TARDIS down.

"Everything is finished here," the Master said. "You must prepare your TARDIS and whichever vehicle you've decided to take with us."

"Yes…" the Doctor sighed, casting a nervous glance at the cold precipitation outside.

"I'll keep ye warm, Doctor," Jamie said, clinging to him. He couldn't resist giving a triumphant smirk at the Master, who, like the Doctor, would be just as affected by the cold.

"Yes, thank you, Jamie. …I'd hate to wake Zoe up, but I think we shall be needing her for this."

"I'll wake her," Victoria offered. "You go on ahead."

"One moment," the Master said, pressing a button on the console. He then opened the doors, revealing that they were now on the same level as the ground. I've disabled the chameleon circuit; that will help with connecting the cables."

"Oh, very good," the Doctor said, and he then turned to Salamander. "And now…"

The former dictator scowled, but he handed over the vortex manipulator, and the Doctor and Jamie now returned to their TARDIS, and were followed by the Brigadier.

"McCrimmon said that you needed your machine."

"Yes, very much so," the Doctor said, shaking off the sluggishness brought about his quick foray into the cold. "We have the proper coding sequence needed to stop the machine, but it won't response to remote instruction. We need to get to Inverness, but there isn't enough time, and our TARDISes can't go that far. We're hoping to combine them to get us as far as we can, as well as far back as we can go, and then drive the rest of the way."

"And we need t' attach this to a UNIT vehicle," Jamie added, holding up the vortex manipulator.

"I see…" the Brigadier said. "Well, if you tell me what to do—"

"Doctor?" Zoe asked, arriving now. "Victoria said you needed my help."

"Oh, yes," the Doctor said. "I need you and the Brigadier to wire this to the engine of one of the UNIT vehicles. The Master will then give you a cable to attach to it, and Jamie and I will give you one from our TARDIS."

"Right," Zoe said, and she and the Brigadier left.

"I guess I need t' move some cables around here, too?" Jamie asked.

"We both shall," the Doctor assured him. He sighed. "Oh, it's noon already? We shall have to move quickly."

Despite moving quickly, it was a process that ended up taking much more time than they had wanted it to, in part due to the fact that the Doctor's TARDIS was an older model and needed far more work and manipulation than the Master's TARDIS had required. The humans ate as they worked, nervously checking watches and timepieces as they assembled a similar network of cables in the Doctor's TARDIS. Once they had finished organizing the cables they needed, Jamie took out the needed cables from the Doctor's TARDIS to meet the ones that Victoria was carrying from the Master's TARDIS.

"What are ye doing?" Jamie asked.

"Well, the Master can't be wandering around in this cold anymore than the Doctor can," she pointed out. "I offered to help, just like you."

Jamie wanted to say something, but bit his tongue; this wasn't the time. They both got to work, connecting the cables as Zoe ran back and forth, taking a cable from each of them and taking them back to the UNIT vehicle that the Brigadier had been using.

"Ye should go back inside," Jamie said to Victoria. "Ye'll catch yer death of cold oot here."

"I'm not a delicate flower, Jamie," she countered. "Contrary to what you think, I can take care of myself. And yes, that includes trusting the Master."

"I di'n say anything," Jamie stated. "I just don' want ye to get hurt."

"And I appreciate that," she said. She gave him a smile as they continued to work. "The Doctor was missing you last night. He seemed to keep waiting for you to come back."

"I'm nae surprised," Jamie said, smiling back.

"Neither am I," she said. "You two always were so close. I'm so glad to see that after all this time, that hasn't changed."

"Ye've changed a lot," Jamie said, before he could stop himself.

"Well, I started living in the 1960s, didn't I? If you'd settled down in a different time period, you might have changed to adapt to your new surroundings."

"…No," Jamie said, after thinking for a moment. "I've settled down in the TARDIS, and I havenae changed."

"…Says the Highlander who owns a pocket phone."

Jamie smirked in reply.

"Aye, so I've only changed a wee bit."

"That's true, I suppose," she admitted. "There; I think that's done it—"

"Brigadier!" Yates's voice suddenly exclaimed from within the Master's TARDIS. "The Master! He—"

"What is it!?" the Brigadier asked. "Has he tried anything!?"

"No, Sir—he seems ill!"

"No, no…" the Doctor said, now hobbling out of his TARDIS. "He's… he's not ill. He's the same as me. We need to divert all power for this to work, and that means the climate control has to be turn off. But we don't do well in the cold, you see…"

"Doctor!" Jamie chided, quickly wrapping the Time Lord in his arms. "Get back inside! Ye cannae risk falling into torpor now!"

"Just one moment, Jamie. Victoria?"

"Yes?"

"I need you to find some good, strong ropes and have everyone in the Master's TARDIS securely tie themselves to the central console. Brigadier, I need you to bring Zoe to my TARDIS so that we can do the same."

"Tie ourselves to the console?" the Brigadier queried. "You usually don't insist on such a thing."

"Yes, but in order to keep our TARDISes connected, we need to take off with the doors open—and Jamie and Victoria here can tell you all about what happens when you do that. So can Salamander, for that matter…"

Jamie now pulled the Doctor inside the TARDIS before he could slip any further into torpor.

"It's midnight; that means it's only six hours until the vortex explodes," Jamie said. "Doctor, is tying the ropes the only thing left t' do?"

"No…" the Doctor said, supporting himself against the console. "I need to program the coordinates, and it has to be at the precise moment that the Master programs his coordinates. Otherwise, it won't work…" The Doctor trailed off suddenly as his elbow slipped from the console.

"Doctor!" Jamie exclaimed. "Och, I'll go find that fur coat of yers—"

"No time—there's no time!" the Doctor moaned.

"Doctor!" Salamander fumed, now storming past Zoe and the Brigadier, who had been ready to enter the TARDIS themselves. "What is this I'm hearing about us taking off with the doors open!? That's exactly how—"

"Och, just tie yerself t' the console and shut up!" Jamie snarled, tossing Salamander a rope.

"Zoe!" Victoria called from the other TARDIS, a rope visible around her waist. "The Master is ready to program the coordinates, so you'd better get inside! I'm trying to keep him warm, but I don't think he can stay awake for much longer—we'll have to move quickly!"

"Are Benton and Yates secure?" the Brigadier asked.

"Yes," she assured him.

Salamander moved to return to the Master's TARDIS, but the Brigadier practically dragged him inside the Doctor's TARDIS.

"Don't bother with that now!" the Brigadier insisted.

"Jamie…" the Doctor said, as the piper tied the both of them to the console. "I do hope the knots in your ropes are better than the ones you tied back on Telos."

"After yer lessons, they'd better be," Jamie said. "Zoe, shall I tie yer rope, too?"

"I'll take care of Miss Heriot," the Brigadier assured him. "You help the Doctor with whatever he needs."

"Aye," Jamie said, taking note that the Doctor looked asleep on his feet already. "Och, Victoria, we need t' get started—I don' think the Doctor can stay on his feet much longer, either!"

"Right," she said, and relayed the coordinates that the Master was putting into his console.

"Did ye hear that, Doctor?" Jamie asked. "Doctor?!"

The Doctor had slumped against him.

"Oh, nae…!"

"Doctor!" Zoe cried.

"Wake him up!" the Brigadier ordered, as Salamander cursed.

"There's no time!" Jamie countered.

Clinging onto the Doctor with one arm, the piper set the coordinates himself, his hand on the lever as Victoria counted down.

Praying as he did so, Jamie threw the lever and then clung to the Doctor with both arms as the central column rose and fell—but too slowly.

At first, it didn't look as though they were going anywhere, and Jamie merely clung to the Doctor in despair. But then, the central column rose and fell with a slightly greater speed, and then, he heard the sound that he had been hoping to hear—

_Vwoorp-vwoorp-vwoorp._

He could also hear the sound coming from outside; the Master's TARDIS was making the same noise as the same pace—a sign that they had coordinated the action perfectly. Whether or not the end result would be the one they wanted remained to be seen.

The darkness of the night outside gave way to an explosion of light and color—and a powerful sucking sensation that Jamie had felt once before. He still clung to the Doctor; the tension on the ropes securing them to the console was so great that the piper's midsection was in great discomfort.

He struggled to breathe; the very air itself seemed to be being pulled from his lungs by the suction of the vortex. Energy crackled loudly outside; the vortex was still building up the power that would lead to its explosion.

Jamie wasn't sure how long it went on for; light-headed from both his lack of sleep and lack of oxygen, the piper began to slip into unconsciousness with his arms still locked tightly around the Time Lord lying beside him.

Whether the Doctor was still slightly conscious or whether by reflex, the Time Lord's hand closed around the piper's wrist.

Jamie's last coherent thought before fully falling into consciousness was a fervent prayer that this would work, along with a silent message to the one beside him—

_Whether this works or nae, Doctor… I'm glad to have been with ye all this time_.


	12. Return to the Dawn of the First Day

The next thing Jamie was aware of was the sound of quacking. Shaking the mental cobwebs away, the piper opened his eyes to see a goldeneye duck waddling around the console room of the TARDIS. The Doctor was still lying beside him, stirring slightly as bright, warm sunlight poured through the doors of the TARDIS. Zoe, the Brigadier, and Salamander were also still tied to the console, unconscious.

The goldeneye now quacked even louder, vigorously flapping its wings. The breeze from the wings caused Salamander, who was next to it, to awaken. The former dictator cursed, furiously swatting at the bird, who squawked back in protest.

The row caused the others to awaken as Salamander succeeded in driving the bird out of the TARDIS.

"One moment, we are facing the end of the space-time continuum, and the next, we are being awakened by some _pato_!" Salamander snarled. "Begone, stupid bird!"

"Why did you do that?" the Doctor asked, awakening in time to see the sight. "We could have eaten that!"

"Doctor!" Zoe chided. "I think we have more important things to worry about right now—like whether or not our plan worked!"

"Considering that we're all alive, I should think it did," the Brigadier stated.

"I think she means whether or not we went back in time enough," the Doctor said, pausing as Jamie used his knife to cut the Doctor free from the console. "I don't really recall much of what happened."

"Aye, ye'd gone into torpor from the cold," Jamie said, as he worked on freeing the others. "I had t' make the final adjustments to the console and time the departure with the Master's."

"Oh. Oh, thank you, Jamie," the Doctor said. "We simply must check on the others; though since we are here, they must be, as well." He stood up now, taking a look at the console display.

"How did I do?" Jamie asked.

"Well, we went back in time three days," the Doctor sighed. "It's six AM, the morning this whole mess started."

"That gives us three days to get to Inverness, then," the Brigadier said. "We'll take it. But _where_, exactly, are we?"

The Doctor kept pressing a button on the console as the display faded.

"Oh, it's no good—the TARDIS used up all of her power to get us here; she will need to recharge before she is able to be functional, and she won't recharge until the situation with the time vortex is fixed. I imagine the Master's TARDIS will be the same way."

"Then we'll have to get our bearings the old-fashioned way," Zoe sighed.

She stepped outside, followed by the others; the Doctor's body temperature was still not back to normal, so Jamie helped him out. Victoria was aiding the Master in the same way as they left his TARDIS, followed by Benton and Yates. The UNIT vehicle had also been transported; everything had rematerialized along the shores of a body of water.

"We all made it," the Brigadier said, relieved. "Wherever we are."

"Yes, and once we get our bearings, we must move to Inverness as soon as possible," the Master said, as Victoria continued to support him.

Jamie, still clinging to the Doctor, now looked around. The place was familiar, and soon, he let out an exclamation.

"I know where we are!" he said. "I know this place! It's Loch Lomond!"

"Are you certain about that?" the Master asked.

"Aye; I visited here once when I was a wee lad," Jamie insisted. "This is most definitely Loch Lomond."

The Master did not look convinced, but the Doctor certainly was.

"I, for one, am willing to agree," the Doctor said. "Jamie would know this place better than any of the rest of us. If we were on Mount Perdition, you and I would be able to recognize it immediately, after all."

The Master conceded.

"Very well," the Master said. "I must admit, the results were better than I expected. Not only have we gotten three days back, we are more than halfway to our destination. This should give us the time we need."

"Yes, I do think we should be pleased with this outcome," the Doctor agreed. "Of course, celebrations may be premature, but I see no reason not to be proud of ourselves for getting this ploy to work, considering we only had one chance at it."

"_Si_, we know where we are," Salamander said. "Are we going to stand here and waste the three days we got back, or are we going to get to Inverness?"

"We shall need to get provisions first," the Doctor said.

"I agree; the rain will be upon us soon," the Brigadier said. "It should only be a few hours' drive, but in the event we come across any unexpected obstacles that would delay us, we mustn't be unprepared."

Salamander grudgingly accepted this, and the next hour was spent gathering food and water and storing it in the UNIT vehicle, as well as bringing clothes and covers to help deal with the imminent rain. Recalling how badly the cold had been towards the end, Jamie braved the darkened, dormant TARDIS corridors to retrieve the Doctor's fur coat from the wardrobe. Hopefully, the Brigadier would be right and that they would have this all finished within a few hours.

In the back of his mind, Jamie was also aware of one fact—one that he was more aware of now that the immediate danger had been delayed. And as he shuffled back and forth from the TARDIS to the UNIT vehicle, the Doctor could tell very easily that he had something on his mind.

"Are you alright, Jamie?"

"Aye," the piper said. "It's just starting t' sink in that I'm going home, sort of—I lived just outside of Inverness for the first twenty-two years of my life. But it feels so strange. In a sense, it feels I'm going home, but in another sense, nae really."

"I think I know how you feel; I feel that same mess of emotions every time I go back to Gallifrey to deliver our mission reports," the Doctor sighed. "Home isn't really home anymore, is it?"

"No," Jamie admitted. "And it's nae just because we're going back in a different year. E'en if we were going back t' my time, I'd feel the same way. I left home because there was nothing there for me. And then I got t' know ye better and I ended up finding home with ye—in the TARDIS. But I do still feel a connection to my home, so I'm happy t' go back, e'en if only for a little while."

"Well, that's only natural," the Doctor said. "The Highlands are a part of who you are, just as Gallifrey is a part of who I am."

"Aye, and I would be lying if I di'n admit that I was looking forward t' seeing my homeland again," Jamie said.

"You enjoy our travels through space and time," the Doctor observed. "But home does always serve as a beacon. And in your case, I think you would enjoy it more if we ended up getting stranded in Scotland for an indefinite period of time rather than if we were stranded on Gallifrey."

"Aye," Jamie said. "I would be fine if ye were with me in the Highlands, just living a normal life, e'en if I would miss our adventures. But I know ye cannae stand to stay in one place for verra long; I wouldnae want ye to go through that for my sake. Ye're already going through so much for me."

"Oh, Jamie…" the Doctor said. "I may love to wander, but trust me when I say that I would be happy anywhere as long as you were with me."

Jamie would have replied, but an argument outside prompted the both of them to quickly leave the TARDIS.

The source of the disturbance was soon clear; the Brigadier had removed the cables and vortex manipulator from the engine of the UNIT vehicle in order to prepare it for the journey northward.

Salamander, however, was demanding the return of the vortex manipulator, but the Brigadier had merely pocketed the device.

"Seeing as though you are partly responsible for this mess, you will have to answer for it," the Brigadier reminded him. "And we can't have you using this to make your escape once this is all over."

Salamander muttered something under his breath, in Spanish.

"One thing I have learned about the Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart is that he is a most obstinate man," the Master said. "He has no intention of letting either of us escape, so you may as well make peace with that fact."

The Doctor arched an eyebrow; the Master wasn't the type to surrender quietly, and he suspected that this wouldn't be the first jailbreak that the Master had planned—and it likely wouldn't be the last, either.

Any further thoughts about this were pushed aside as the heavy downpour suddenly caught up to them.

"It's only been an hour!" Zoe exclaimed. "Oh, I wonder how far this storm spreads in three days…"

"Regardless of the speed, the time limit of 72 hours remains the same," the Master assured her. "Any oversaturation of the ground will be reversed, assuming we can get to the machine in time.

"In that case," the Brigadier said. "Let's just continue getting ready so we can put a stop to it as soon as possible!"

They had plenty of other things to worry about now; any arguments would have to be put aside.

* * *

After everyone had been satisfied with their provisions, the party entered the UNIT vehicle, attempting to dry off as the storm around them intensified. The Brigadier took the wheel as Captain Yates went over a map.

"The quickest way to Inverness would be for us to take the A82 road, past Loch Ness," Yates said.

"Did ye say A82?" Jamie asked, recalling what he had heard over the transmissions during his attempt at contacting vehicle 57. "Nae A9?"

"If we're trying to save time, no," Yates said.

"Don't tell me you, of all people, are afraid of the Loch Ness Monster, Jamie," Victoria teased.

"Of course nae," Jamie scoffed. "There's no beastie that can get the best of me. It's just that I thought the other road would be better."

"Perhaps we should go the A9 road," the Doctor said, realizing that Jamie must have heard it on the communications line.

"But if the A82 road is quicker, wouldn't it make more sense to go that way?" the Brigadier asked.

"The difference couldn't possibly be that great, can it?" the Doctor asked. "And remember, regardless of when we get to Inverness, we'll have to wait until at least six hours before the vortex reaches critical mass—that was the exact point that we used the TARDISes to go back."

"You mean we can't get there early and put the code in?" Victoria asked.

"I'm afraid not, Victoria. It would create a paradox—and the vortex is in a fragile enough state now," the Doctor said. "But there's no need to look so worried; remember, we know the code to input."

"Be that as it may, I would like for us to get there with plenty of time to spare," the Brigadier said. "We'll take the A82 road."

Jamie opened his mouth to protest, but the Doctor placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I feel you'll be vindicated soon enough," he gently assured the piper. "In the meantime, why don't you have a nap? You haven't gotten any sleep for the last couple of days—relatively speaking."

"I was unconscious long enough…" Jamie said, with a wry smile.

"I suppose so," the Doctor mused. "At least have something to eat; you never had any breakfast. Zoe, Victoria—you, too. You should have something. Thankfully, we've got plenty of rations. …Pity about that duck getting away, though."

"After this is all over, I promise to catch ye a duck for our supper," Jamie promised, as the Doctor handed him a sandwich. There was an unspoken condition in his words—_assuming we make it oot of this_.

The Doctor gave him a gentle, reassuring smile before handing sandwiches to the girls, as well.

As they ate, the Brigadier continued to drive northward along the A82 road. The downpour outside had reduced the visibility of the road to nearly zero, forcing him to progress down the road at a very slow rate of speed. While the Master and Salamander sat in grumpy silence, the Doctor and his companions were deep in quiet conversation.

Suddenly, the Brigadier swore loudly; their vehicle skidding forward on the wet road before coming to a complete stop.

"What is it?" the Doctor asked.

"The road is closed," the Brigadier said, through gritted teeth. "Uncontrollable flooding further ahead."

Everyone in the back of the vehicle now attempted to catch a look through the front window—and at the roadblock preventing any further progress.


	13. Night of the First Day

_Notes: the brief mention of Jamie's "stint in a Time Lord body" is a reference to a fic I wrote last year called "Metamorphosis_._"_

* * *

The silence was finally broken by Victoria.

"Well, what do we do now?" she asked.

"There's only one thing we can do," Yates said, going over the map. "We need to get to the A9 road and go to Inverness that way."

Jamie and the Doctor exchanged glances; the Brigadier saw the exchange in the rearview mirror, and was grateful when they said nothing about how Jamie had insisted upon the A9 road earlier.

They changed routes with difficulty; the wind and rain was still increasing in intensity, even this far from the start of the storm, and the Brigadier was unwilling to go at any higher speeds than the conditions would allow.

Nevertheless, they made it to the A9 road and continued northward, maintaining a slow but steady pace. Jamie was practically glued to the window of the vehicle, watching as views of the land he once knew so well sped past him, now distorted by the passage of time.

He wasn't really in the mood to talk, so he just sighed and mulled over his thoughts in silence. The Doctor understood his feelings and placed a supportive hand on his shoulder, silently transmitting that if Jamie changed his mind and wanted to talk, he could do so at any moment.

As evening fell and the view out of the window became obscured, Jamie probably would have said something at some point, had the Brigadier not suddenly let out another curse, bringing the vehicle to a halt once again.

"Don't tell me that the rest of the A9 road is closed, as well!" the Doctor exclaimed, wringing his hands.

"I should have expected it," the Brigadier said, bitterly. "They were renovating the road here before the storm started; of course, the downpour would have rendered it impassable. Yates, how far are we from Inverness?"

"Nearly thirty miles, we just passed Aviemore," Yates said, consulting the map. "If we can find another detour—"

"If the main roads are this bad, any other road won't have conditions that will allow us passage," the Brigadier muttered. "There'll be downed trees, accidents, floods…"

"Shall we try going off of the roads, Sir?" Benton asked, quietly.

"It's the only other chance we've got keeping us from walking the rest of the way," the Brigadier sighed. "But with that ground saturated with water, I cannot imagine that we'll get very far."

"I suggest we try," the Doctor said. "The less we have to walk in that storm, the better. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, after all…"

Progress off of the road was even slower as the Brigadier tried his best not to get the vehicle stuck. But the heavy vehicle on the soggy ground was not a favorable combination; they had barely inched forward a mile when the vehicle got stuck.

"I knew it sounded too easy," Victoria sighed, in resignation. "We spent seven-and-a-half hours in this vehicle, traveling a route that should have taken only half that time, and we're stuck thirty miles from our destination."

"Oh, Victoria, it's not as bad as all that," the Doctor said. "True, we shall have to brave the elements, but it's far from an impossible goal. And we still have two-and-a-half days to get to Inverness. And don't forget that we've got the best navigator possible for this journey northward."

It took Jamie a moment to realize that the Doctor was talking about him.

"Oh, aye!" he exclaimed. "I can lead us t' Inverness the most direct way possible! It's my home, after all—"

"You are overestimating the amount of time we have for traveling," the Brigadier said. "To travel on foot in this weather at night is certain death! I don't care how confident McCrimmon is with his navigational skills—I have no doubt that he is the best man for the job. But even so, I cannot allow anyone to take such a risk!"

"I find myself having to agree with the Brigadier in this case," the Master said. "There is only one among us who currently has the capability to cheat death, should it befall him out there in the elements."

Now it was the Doctor's turn to take a moment to realize that he was the one being referred to.

"What? Oh. Oh, yes; I suppose that's true. I _would_ have regeneration as a fallback, I suppose…" the Doctor mused. "Very well, then; as I know the code to stop the machine, I can head to Inverness by myself."

"_No_," Jamie said, flatly.

"Oh, Jamie; I will be careful, of course."

"Ye're nae going oot there alone," the piper insisted. "If ye're going, then I am going with ye, and the only way ye can stop me is to tie me up and knock me senseless."

"That can be arranged," the Master said, dryly.

"Oh, shush," the Doctor chided the Master.

"I have to agree with McCrimmon," the Brigadier stated. "Whether you have a fallback or not, it shan't do you or anyone else much good if you get turned around out there."

"Well, it was a thought, anyway," the Time Lord sighed. He gave Jamie a lopsided smile. "Looks like you win this argument, Jamie."

Jamie was more than satisfied with this, but it still left them with the dilemma of what to do.

Zoe, on the other hand, had taken matters into her own hands, and was going over the map with Captain Yates.

"Assuming we make full use of available daylight hours, as well as Jamie's navigational skills, I don't see any reason why we cannot make the journey on foot," she decided. "The average walking speed is three miles an hour; we'll probably have to slow down to a bit less than half that pace on account of the weather. Even then, after factoring in the time necessary for meals and rest, we should still arrive at Inverness the afternoon after tomorrow—and we would have to wait until midnight to program the code, anyway."

"Then, it's settled," the Brigadier declared. "It's already gotten dark; we continue tomorrow on foot."

"All of us, Sir?" Yates asked. "If we carry too many provisions, it may slow us down further. Also, someone should stay with the vehicle, just in case."

"It'll have t' be ye," Jamie realized. "Remember, ye're going to call for backup to reach ye here on the A9 road. And ye have t' stay here to call me to tell the Brigadier to bring the TARDIS."

"Right," Yates realized. "And I suppose I can spend tonight trying to see if they can find any sort of vehicle that could travel across this mud, while I'm at it—futile as that may be, of course."

Benton also opted to stay, in the event that Yates would need any assistance. And that led to a discussion as to who would stay and who would go.

"Obviously, I need t' go," Jamie said. "The Doctor and I can handle it on our own. And we'll need Salamander in case we need t' make any last-minute adjustments on the machine before we put the code in."

Salamander looked at the storm outside.

"Thank you for volunteering me for this," he said, sardonically.

"The three of us will be all we need," Jamie stated.

"Nevertheless," the Master said. "You may come across a situation that will require my intellect. Salamander's machine has been modified by me, after all."

"If the Master and Salamander are both going, I would feel better about this whole thing if I went along to back you up," the Brigadier stated.

"Aye, fine; then it will just be the five of us," Jamie went on. "The lassies should stay where it's safe—"

Zoe and Victoria rounded on him, both glaring at him.

"You may wish to amend that statement, Jamie, if you value _your_ safety," the Doctor observed.

"Aye, but… Och, Zoe! Victoria! Ye don' want to go oot in that mess, do ye?"

"Seeing as though I invested a lot of time and effort into arriving at the proper code, I ought to be there to see the final results," Zoe insisted.

"And I ought to be there, seeing as though I'm just as involved in this as any one of us here," Victoria said.

Jamie let out a quiet squawk before turning to the Doctor, who was staring determinedly at the roof of the vehicle, twiddling his thumbs.

"Besides, I don't think it's really up to you as to who goes or stays," Zoe added. "You're just the navigator."

"Och, fine. Brigadier?" Jamie asked.

The Brigadier looked as though that this was one argument he wanted no part of, but nevertheless had to contribute to.

"Miss Heriot brings up a valid point about her knowledge of the code; God forbid we get into a situation where we're separated or reduced in number, but if that should happen, we would need to make sure that someone can program the machine. In fact, Doctor, I think you ought to tell McCrimmon and Miss Waterfield the code. Just in case…"

"Yes, I suppose you're right," the Doctor agreed, and he wrote it down for them.

"Then it's decided," the Brigadier said. "Yates and Benton will stay here, and the rest of us will leave first thing in the morning."

"Then you should get a good night's rest," the Doctor said. "Any human going out there tomorrow will need it—you're not immune to this, Brigadier."

"Benton and I will keep watch, Sir," Yates assured him. "I need to be up with the communications, anyway."

"Very well," the Brigadier agreed, though he seemed to dislike the idea of partaking in the luxury of sleep when his men could not.

The girls were given the back of the vehicle for themselves; they had enough room to lie down, wrapped in blankets, and were soon asleep.

The others stayed in their seats; Salamander, though grumpy, nodded off fairly quickly, while the Brigadier made sure Yates and Benton were alright before following suit.

It was Jamie, however, who was finding sleep difficult. The vivid nightmare he'd had the other night—the same night, actually, seeing as though they'd gone back in time—was still in his mind, and the last thing he wanted was to once again see the Valeyard stealing the Doctor's lives, even if it was only in his dreams.

He sat quietly in the darkened car, listening to Captain Yates attempting to call for backup as flashes of lightning momentarily lit up the sky outside, coupled with the sounds of thunder.

Meanwhile, the Doctor and the Master were looking at each other, silently; it took Jamie a moment to realize that they were communicating telepathically. Jamie couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy that they could communicate so easily like that, while he struggled to, given humans' lack of telepathic abilities—a brief stint in a Time Lord body had given him a very mild increase in natural telepathy, but it just wasn't enough sometimes. The Doctor pointed out that they had always been on the same wavelength prior to the incident, and that he had never had any trouble understanding what Jamie wanted to put across.

As if to illustrate this point, Jamie gave a start as the Doctor placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Jamie?" he asked, softly.

"I'm alright," the piper murmured back.

"You must get some sleep," the Doctor responded, not convinced. "You need to be well-rested for your duties as our navigator."

"I know; I just…" Jamie said, but trailed off as remembered that there wasn't much he could tell the Doctor now in regards to the Valeyard. "It's nothing. I was just wondering if ye could somehow see to it that I had a dreamless sleep."

The Doctor blinked in surprise.

"It's been a long time since you asked me for that," the Doctor pointed out. "Not since the Sontaran massacre aboard the Space Station Chimera."

"I know," Jamie said. "But, like ye said, I need to be well-rested—which I cannae be if I have nightmares."

"If you think you'll have another, then I certainly will see to it that you won't have any dreams tonight," the Doctor promised. He gently placed his index finger on Jamie's forehead. "Are you ready?"

"Aye," he replied, and an instant later, the piper was asleep, slumping forward in his seat.

The Doctor gently caught him as he fell forward and now drew him closer, resting the piper's head on the Doctor's own shoulder. Something was troubling Jamie, the Time Lord knew, but he knew better than to press for the answer or to poke in Jamie's mind and find out that way. If Jamie was willing to tell him, then he would.

Whatever the dream had been, it had to be something truly horrifying. During the start of their travels together, Jamie had asked for dreamless nights a lot, on account of revisiting Culloden in his dreams. After a while, the requests had stopped, returning only on rare occasions—the time after the Doctor had been in a coma for months after being presumed dead, the time the Doctor had been presumed dead and had woken up just prior to a space burial, and the aforementioned Sontaran attack, when the Doctor had been presumed dead again…

_Oh, Jamie_… the Time Lord silently transmitted, as he finally connected the dots and also recalled Jamie's insistence on refusing to let him go out alone just a little while ago. He brushed a stray strand of hair out of the Scot's eyes. _It'll be alright, Jamie; you'll see_. _No matter what happens this time, we shall be together. I can promise you that_.

Their future was still unknown, but whatever it was—whether it ended in success or failure—it would be a fate that they would share.


	14. Dawn of the Second Day

_Notes: Castle McCrimmon was an idea from a planned Doctor Who serial back in the 60s that was later scrapped. While the story itself isn't canon, the idea of Castle McCrimmon's existence is one that I've adopted into my headcanon_.

* * *

Jamie awoke fully rested, with his head still on the Doctor's shoulder. Outside was still gray and miserable, but it was clearly daytime.

"Ah, good morning, Jamie," the Doctor said, holding up the tray of sandwiches he had been partaking of. "Breakfast?"

"Aye, thanks," the piper said, taking one.

He looked behind him as he ate, seeing that Zoe and Victoria were also up and eating breakfast.

"Do finish up quickly; we'd best get a move on as immediately as possible," the Brigadier said. "And make sure not to take too many supplies. Bring only what is necessary so that we're not weighed down."

"We have a cushion of over twelve hours," Zoe reminded him.

"I still see no reason to delay when we are on borrowed time," the Brigadier pointed out. "And there's no way of knowing what might delay us out there."

"Well, Jamie will be sure to minimize those delays," the Doctor assured him.

"Aye," Jamie said. "I have a pretty good idea of where t' go."

"Read this and get an exact idea," the Brigadier said, handing him the map. "The terrain will have changed considerably since your time. Yates has marked our current location on there for you."

"E'en if the terrain has changed, the distance will be the same," he determined. "That's all I need t' know." He went over the map, anyway, and nodded in affirmation. "Aye, we can keep going through the woodlands in the northwest direction—it'll be a direct line towards Inverness."

"I hope you're taking into consideration that the heavy rains will make traversing through woodlands muddy and unpleasant," the Master reminded.

"I know how my homeland works," Jamie quipped back. "When we're on Gallifrey, ye can give us yer commentary."

"Between McCrimmon's instincts and my survival training, we should be fine, providing we stick together," the Brigadier agreed. "McCrimmon, we're leaving ourselves in your hands. There's a lot riding on this."

"I know," Jamie said, stuffing the rest of the sandwich into his mouth. "Just trust me; I won' lead ye wrong."

"Mind that you don't eat too quickly," the Doctor fussed, as he watching him wolf down the sandwich.

The Brigadier, in the meantime, was now saying an ever-so-slightly tenuous farewell to Yates and Benton.

"As you know, even in spite of our cushion of time and our planning, there is a chance of failure—and a rather disgraceful one, at that," he was saying. "As with every other disaster we've faced, we'll deal with this the same way—head-on, and with full courage. I know I am asking a lot of you to spend what might potentially be your last days here with this vehicle, but if the stars align in our favor, it shan't be the end."

Yates and Benton responded with a salute.

"Whatever the outcome, Sir, it was our honor and our privilege to serve under your command," Yates said.

Jamie, who had now moved on to gathering the supplies he would be carrying, paused to watch the Brigadier return the salute. All this time, he had been thinking only about saving the lives of the Doctor and their close friends. It was beginning to sink in now that there were others at stake—everyone he ever knew, as well as strangers he didn't know, who were huddling in fear somewhere or attempting to continue life as normal as they could.

More than ever, he was determined to help save them. And now, as navigator, he finally had a chance to contribute something to this effort which had, up until now, been only on the shoulders of the cleverer ones.

He silently hoped that he wouldn't let them down.

* * *

They had set off soon after, all of them wearing plastic rainwear and carrying supplies in waterproof bags. Though it felt awkward to be clad in plastic, Jamie could appreciate how dry his clothes were as he led the others onward through the woodlands. Some modern inventions had proven themselves to be incredibly useful.

The Doctor plodded along cheerfully behind him; Jamie couldn't help but feel pleased that the Doctor was sticking with him rather than the Master. Jamie suspected that it was because the Doctor was making up for not being able to be with him much during the initial three-day cycle. Whatever the reason, Jamie was happy heading through familiar lands with a loved one right behind him.

Zoe was right behind them, going over the map just to reassure herself that Jamie was leading them efficiently. She seemed to be satisfied, as she hadn't said anything; Jamie knew from experience that if Zoe disagreed with anything that was going on, she would let it be known immediately.

Victoria was walking beside the Master just behind Zoe. She was trying to keep him involved in conversation, though it was a futile effort on her part, as he was not in a good mood and seemed to be mulling something over in his mind. Salamander was behind them, utterly silent, and the Brigadier was bringing up the rear to keep an eye on the two miscreants, making sure they didn't try anything.

Zoe's assessment about their pace had been correct; their progress was slow, but steady, thanks to Jamie's navigational skills. Around noontime, they hunkered down briefly for a rest and for lunch. It was during this time that the Master, who had eaten his fill at breakfast and wasn't hungry, sensed something amiss.

"We are being watched," he declared, glaring at a nearby tree. He stood up, not taking his eyes off of the spot. "Show yourself, and you will not be harmed! Remain in seclusion, and you will face the consequences!"

Jamie stood up now, drawing his knife in the event that it was someone or something unpleasant. To his surprise, a frightened, young teenage girl peered at him from behind the tree she had hidden behind.

"Och, ye great oaf; ye were threatening a poor lassie," the piper snarled at the Master, pleased at how foolish the crafty Time Lord now looked. "All she wanted from us was some food."

The Master refused to dignify his snide remark with a reply.

Victoria now stood up, shielding a sandwich with her rainwear as she headed over to the girl with a smile.

"That's it, isn't it?" she asked, kindly, as the Master sat down. "You're hungry?"

"And a wee bit lost," the girl added, with a nod. "I was visiting here with some friends, and I got a bit turned arooned yesterday when the rain started."

"You've been wandering in these woods since yesterday!?" the Doctor exclaimed. "Where do you live?"

"A wee village near Lochindorb," she replied. "We drove oot here and went for a walk in the woods. Then the rain started, and we all got separated trying t' make it back t' the car. I ne'er made it oot of the woods at all."

"Lochindorb…" Jamie murmured.

"It's out of our way," Zoe said, consulting the map.

"Aye, but it's nae _too_ far oot of our way."

There was a long pause.

"You had better not be thinking what I think you're thinking," Salamander warned, a touch of venom in his voice. "_Estupido_! We do not have the time to be good Samaritans! Or have you forgotten why we are here!?"

"She's lost!" Victoria exclaimed. "Jamie's right; we can't just leave her here! Doctor, you agree with us, don't you?"

"It's definitely too dangerous for her to stay in these woods," the Doctor agreed. "Even the Brigadier said that staying out here at night is deadly—it's a miracle she survived the night at all!"

The Brigadier exhaled.

"We can't leave her here; you're right about that," he agreed. "We'll just have to take her to Inverness with us."

The girl's face fell.

"If ye can just lead me oot of the woods, I can head home by myself," she said, after a moment. "I don' want ye going oot of yer way fer me."

"It's no trouble at all," Victoria said, gently.

"Her parents must be worried," Jamie said. "Zoe, I have an idea. Ye said we'd have twelve hours t' spare, aye?"

"Yes, that's right," she said. "And I was being conservative about that, as well. If you're asking me if we'd have enough time to take her to Lochindorb, we should. Taking the time to rest for the night, we'd be at Inverness with… probably six hours to spare—we'd arrive approximately at midnight."

"And we cannae program the machine before midnight anyway," Jamie finished. "Aye, that settles it; we're going t' Lochindorb."

"Have you taken leave of what senses you have remaining, huh!?" Salamander snapped.

"Ye heard what Zoe said," Jamie countered.

"You assume everything will go smoothly! What of delays!?" Salamander returned. "How do you know that we will not have trouble trying to get to Inverness!?"

"While I certainly agree that we cannot leave this girl here, I do think it would be prudent to take her with us to Inverness, as I suggested moments ago," the Brigadier said. "That way, we will be covered in the event there are delays."

"I have my reasons for wanting t' take her to Lochindorb," Jamie said to the Brigadier. "If ye want t' go on to Inverness, ye can—I can tell ye which way to go and rejoin ye later so that ye won't be delayed."

"Jamie," the Doctor said, softly. "If you're going to Lochindorb, then I shall go to Lochindorb with you."

The piper looked to the Time Lord with a grateful grin.

The Brigadier stood there for a moment, contemplating their choices.

"Very well," he said, at last. "But I'd rather not trust ourselves to this terrain; if it's all the same to you, McCrimmon, just give us the general direction of where to go, and we'll use the map. Your shortcuts would be useful, but I doubt that we'd be able to navigate them without you."

"Aye, verra well," Jamie said. "Ye'll want t' make for just south of Piperhill. Ye'll find Castle McCrimmon—my ancestral home. Och, well, my ancestral home for the rich ones in the family. We ne'er got t' see the inside because we were poor and lived in that village—"

"Jamie…" the Doctor reminded him, gently.

"Aye, that's nae important now," Jamie agreed. "But, anyway, as that is technically my property, we willnae be trespassing if we stay overnight. We can leave for Inverness after breakfast tomorrow morning. And if we're not back yet, ye can leave withoot us, even."

Zoe calculated the distance.

"Piperhill to Inverness is about a five hours' walk under normal conditions…" she murmured. "Meaning it would take us twice that in this weather… Oh, that doesn't change anything from my initial calculations—we'd still arrive with twelve hours to spare!"

"Aye, see?" Jamie said.

"That does mean extra walking for you and the Doctor," the Brigadier pointed out.

"Don' ye worry aboot that; I know shortcuts, remember?" Jamie said.

The Doctor now turned to the Master.

"You've been awfully quiet…" he observed.

"What difference does it make as to what I say?" the Master responded.

The Doctor shrugged, admitting that he had a point.

"Then, it's settled," the Brigadier said. "Very well, McCrimmon, I wish you and the Doctor good luck."

The girls wished them good luck, as well, and the others soon left, leaving the Doctor, Jamie, and the girl behind.

"I'm sorry for all of this," the girl said. "But thank ye."

"No trouble at all, my dear," the Doctor said, warmly. "Now then, I'm the Doctor, and your fellow countryman here is Jamie."

"Aggie," the girl said. "Aggie McLaren."

Jamie whipped around, staring at her.

"McLaren…?" he asked, nearly breathless.

"Aye. Funny that ye mentioned ye're a McCrimmon; I di'n think there were any left, at least none who kept the name. They were supposed t' be friends of our family long ago, who leaved with some of our family near Inverness, but the last of the McCrimmons vanished withoot a trace. They say he reappeared, years older, t' become the Laird and owner of Castle McCrimmon, and then he disappeared again. He kept disappearing and reappearing so many times, supposedly with the aid of a sorcerer. A portrait of him hangs over the mantel in the Great Hall, so they say; with him in the portrait is the sorcerer who spirited him away."

Jamie stood there for a moment, dumbfounded, and the Doctor cleared his throat to break the tension.

"Yes, well…" the Time Lord said. "We must get to Lochindorb posthaste. There will be plenty of time for stories later."

"A-Aye," Jamie agreed.

Suddenly much more confused than ever before, the piper led the way to Lochindorb, wondering what in Heaven's name did the future have in store for him.


	15. Night of the Second Day

Jamie's head was still muddled as he, the Doctor, and Aggie headed towards the direction of Lochindorb, Ordinarily, he would have made conversation with Aggie, a fellow Scot and a descendant of his closest friends, but he was still trying to wrap his brain around what his future held.

Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that he would be the Laird and owner of the castle; indeed, before the rebellion, it was a dream just to be able to visit the castle—one that Jamie's father and brothers had hoped would come true. But Aggie had said that he had been the only survivor of his family who still carried the name—the implications of which were all too clear. Other than a few possible cousins, his entire family had perished at the hands of the Redcoats. Indeed, he had expected it, but the confirmation of that knowledge had stamped out that fool's hope that, just maybe by some miracle, a few of them had survived.

The Doctor knew that Jamie was distressed, and he knew the exact reason why; he also knew that there was little that he could say in the way of comfort. Drawing an arm around him barely helped; the plastic rainwear they were wearing blocked the normally comforting sensation that would usually follow.

Still, they pressed on; it was as they neared the edge of the woodland that they heard a commotion.

"I know those voices," Aggie said, her eyes widening.

She ran up ahead, with the Doctor and Jamie right behind her, and they soon came across a group of teenagers—Aggie's friends, no doubt—with a few adults and policemen.

One of the adults—a woman, immediately ran over to Aggie, drawing her in an embrace as the others now gathered nearby, looking relieved.

"Mrs. McLaren, I presume?" the Doctor asked, gently.

Mrs. McLaren looked up, and as Aggie explained that the Doctor and Jamie had gone out of their way to help, she immediately thanked the both of them.

"I cannae thank ye enough," she said. "I'd feared the worst for my Aggie in this weather. Is there nae a way I can repay ye?"

"We're quite fine," the Doctor assured her.

"They're going t' Castle McCrimmon," Aggie said. "Can we give them a lift?"

"Ye'd get yer car stuck in the mud in this weather if ye go that way; the ground is verra boggy," Jamie said. "I know; we tried driving already. Best that ye go on home and stay there until this rain clears."

"Aye, if ye're sure," a man who they presumed to be Mr. McLaren replied. He cast a glance at Jamie's kilt. "That would be the McCrimmons' tartan, aye?"

"He says he is a McCrimmon," Aggie said.

"How apt, then, that ye're the one t' help our family," Mr. McLaren said. "Yer kinfolk had a long history of helping ours."

"Aye, I know," Jamie said, gently.

"And how wonderful that the McCrimmon line still exists!" Mrs. McLaren said.

The Doctor cleared his throat as he saw Jamie's face fall even more.

"Er, yes; well, we'd love to stay and chat, but I do believe it is best if you take Aggie home to where it's safe and dry. I'm sure she must be hungry and tired, as well," the Doctor pointed out.

This caused everyone to fuss over Aggie again; the Doctor chose that moment to lead Jamie away, towards the direction of Castle McCrimmon. The piper glanced over his shoulder at the descendants of his dear friends.

"My line ends with me," the piper said, quietly.

"Jamie…"

"I don' regret anything, Doctor; maybe it's better this way. I'll be a legend among my people—the Laird of the McCrimmons, who kept disappearing and reappearing to do good deeds for the family of the McLarens, just as he had always done."

If it hadn't been for the more pressing matter at hand with the vortex, the Doctor would have brought up the subject of different ways for Jamie's bloodline to live on. But those would be a discussion for another time and place.

"Why don't you show me the way back to your castle?" the Doctor said, at last.

This perked Jamie up a bit, albeit slightly, and he picked up his pace, with the Doctor right behind him.

* * *

Jamie's shortcuts ended up getting himself and the Doctor to Castle McCrimmon ahead of the others. The piper didn't mind this at all, and the Doctor wasn't surprised when, upon casting the rainwear and supplies aside, the first place the piper went to was the fireplace in the Great Hall.

But to Jamie's disappointment, the spot above the mantel was empty.

"She was wrong aboot the portrait," he said, quietly, as the Doctor came to join him. "It's nae there."

"So it isn't," the Doctor said. "But I don't think it's a mistake on Aggie's behalf. If you'll allow me…" The Time Lord withdrew his sonic screwdriver, running it across the empty space. "Just as I thought. The dire situation with the vortex is causing the events of our future to unravel."

"Eh?" Jamie asked, worried. "That doesnae sound good."

"It isn't," the Doctor said, grimly. "You see, Jamie, you are, presently, not the Laird, and you haven't reclaimed your ancestral property. Yet. But, at some point, you will go back to Scotland and do so. Except there's one thing that is threatening that future now."

"…That e'erything will end early when the vortex explodes," Jamie realized. "And if I die the morning after tomorrow in the explosion, getting the castle will ne'er have happened, so there would be no portrait."

"Yes; the vortex is in such a state right now, it can't determine which of the futures will be the one to occur," the Doctor said.

Jamie suddenly shuddered.

"Do… Do ye think the same thing applies to ye and yer future?"

"Yes, I suppose so," the Doctor replied.

"Then… All of yer other selves—the dandy, and Peri's Doctor, and all the other ones of ye that I met… What's happening t' them now?"

The Doctor's eyes widened in dawning horror.

"Well, if the vortex explodes, it would happen to quickly for me to regenerate. That would mean that my other selves would never exist. Like the portrait, I… I suppose… one by one, my other selves are disappearing the closer we get to the morning after tomorrow," he said, quietly. "Starting with my oldest self, and working backwards."

A knot formed in Jamie's gut.

"How many do ye think have vanished already?"

"I don't know," the Doctor said, helplessly. "But considering that we're more than halfway until the time limit, it stands to reason that more than half of my future selves would have vanished!"

"That means that Ace's Doctor is the oldest one of ye left right now," Jamie said, counting on his fingers.

"Yes, and I expect him to vanish soon enough, as well," the Doctor fretted. "It will keep going; I suppose the dandy will vanish an hour or two before the explosion, and then…"

"Can we get them back?" Jamie asked.

"If we can solve the problem with the vortex in time, absolutely," the Doctor assured him. "Everything will be back to normal, including the portrait here."

"I don' care aboot that," Jamie insisted. "I care aboot ye."

The Doctor fell silent now.

"I mean it," Jamie said. "It's why I expected that my family line would end with me—I couldnae leave ye, e'en t' start a family to continue my lineage. I meant what I said before—that I don' regret going with ye. My life would've been so empty withoot ye, assuming I'd survived at all—and according to that alternate timeline I saw, I di'n survive anyway."

"Yes, that timeline…" the Doctor murmured. He shuddered. "Oh, Jamie, I truly am sorry you had to see that. Just thinking about the person I had become under the Intelligence's influence is sickening. I wasn't myself at all; I was a mad being devoid of any compassion. And to think, the potential of becoming someone like that exists within me, able to be drawn out by some force or influence…"

The image of the Valeyard crossed Jamie's consciousness again.

"I won' let ye become that," Jamie vowed. "I already told the Master I wouldnae."

"Why did he know about that?" the Doctor asked.

"Oh… I… Well, he used his touch-telepathy on me. I di'n want t' tell him, but it just sort of happened," Jamie admitted. "The dream I had the other night was aboot that, actually. I guess talking aboot it with the Master made me dream of it."

"Yes, I suppose it would," the Doctor sighed. "It's simply horrifying to think about that from my end, but you had to face me like that. It must have been unbearable for you to see me without a shred of love in me."

Jamie responded with a nod, not wanting to dwell on that.

"You know, Jamie," the Doctor continued. "We are in a good position to fix everything in time. But, seeing as though we never had a chance to properly test the coding sequence, there is still a chance that we might fail."

"I realize that," Jamie replied. "And I just want ye t' know that no matter what happens, there's no place I'd rather be than right here with ye."

"And there's nowhere else I'd rather be than with you, Jamie," the Doctor promised. "…That was the real reason you wanted to get Aggie back to her family, isn't it? You wanted that even before you found out she was a McLaren."

"Aye," Jamie admitted. "If this is the end, then I wanted her t' be able t' spend her last hours with her loved ones."

"I suspected as much," the Doctor replied. He paused for a moment. "You know, Jamie, there have been things that I wanted to say to you that largely went unsaid. It's something that, I think, everyone is guilty of. A lot of the time, it's because you assume that the other person understands without you saying anything."

Jamie gave the Doctor a look, but then smiled.

"Aye, and I did understand," he said.

"Oh, yes?"

"I know what ye want t' say. Yer older selves said as much t' me each time we met them. And e'en if they hadnae said it, I'd still know; yer actions always spoke for ye."

"All the same, Jamie… I feel as though I must tell you now."

The piper gave a nod, silently instructing him to speak.

"You've been traveling with me for thirteen years, Jamie," the Doctor said. "Not all at once, of course, though it did feel that way for you, but still—thirteen years. There's only one other person with whom I've traveled longer than that, and that is my granddaughter, Susan. Those thirteen years have been truly wonderful, Jamie—yes, even the ten years we've been working for the Celestial Intervention Agency. And if I had the chance to change anything, the only thing I would have changed would be to not give you as many scares as I know I have. You've put up with a lot from me—more than you should have. And yet, you stayed with me."

"I know ye di'n mean t' make me worry."

"Yes, but even so, when I saw later how it had affected you, I regretted it at once," the Doctor insisted. "You mean so much to me, Jamie. Even with this chance to try to put it all into words, I feel as though it's not quite enough."

"I know what ye mean," Jamie said. "I don' think I can fully tell ye how I've felt aboot the last thirteen years. Ye took the time t' teach me things—t' help me understand about a universe that I knew nothing aboot. And ye made sure that I ne'er felt like I was alone; I knew ye were always there for me."

"And so I shall be," the Doctor promised. "You have my trust, my faith, my love, and my care until the end—whenever that may be."

"And ye have my trust, faith, love, and care until the end, too," Jamie vowed.

"And that's more than I could ever ask for," the Doctor finished, drawing the piper into an embrace.

Jamie returned the hug, ignoring the confusing swirl of emotions within him. If it did end the morning after the next day, he knew he would still be grateful for whatever time he had known the Doctor.

Noises from outside soon drew their attention; the others were arriving at Castle McCrimmon—just barely making it before the last light of the day had vanished. The Doctor and Jamie retrieved their rainwear to help guide them inside.

"How did you make it here before us!?" the Brigadier demanded.

"My shortcuts," Jamie said, proudly. "Ye should have stayed with us."

"Oh, never mind that," Zoe huffed. "Let's just get the rest we need so that we'll be ready to make good time tomorrow."

"Aye; just make yerselves at home," Jamie said. "Ye'll like the vast rooms of this place."

"It's nothing compared to my father's estates on Mount Perdition," the Master scoffed.

"Aye? Well, it's my property, and unless ye want me t' kick ye oot, I'd suggest ye drop the subject," Jamie snarled.

The Doctor gave Jamie's shoulder a quick squeeze.

"I think it's lovely, Jamie," he said. "Now let's get everyone settled with some food and some sleeping quarters. We have a long night ahead of us."

Jamie nodded; there would be plenty of time to worry about the Master later. For now, he would enjoy what time he had left with the Doctor, and with Zoe, Victoria, and the Brigadier—and would hope that there would be more to enjoy in the future.


	16. Dawn of the Final Day

Jamie awoke the next morning after a dreamless sleep—once again provided by the Doctor, who had also allowed the piper to use his shoulder as a pillow again; the Doctor had wanted to help the Brigadier keep an eye on Salamander and the Master, and Jamie hadn't wanted to leave him just to sleep in a bed.

The girls, who had opted for nice, warm beds, soon joined the others in the Great Hall as Jamie now began to wolf down some breakfast to give him the strength he needed for the final push to Inverness.

The girls soon joined Jamie to partake of breakfast; as they ate, Zoe went over the map to determine which way to go.

"Don' bother with that," Jamie said, through a mouthful of food. "We'll go a wee bit south and then turn west, and right around Bogbain, we'll turn back northward and reach Inverness withoot any trouble."

"Bogbain?" Zoe asked. "But that's out of our way! If we head just southwest from here, we head directly to Inverness! Your way is longer!"

"It may be longer, but I still think it's the best way," Jamie said, getting slightly tense. "I'm the navigator, remember?"

"You may be the navigator, yes, and I haven't said anything against your judgment so far, but it would make much more sense to cut through Culloden to get to Inverness instead of going on such a roundabout way!"

"And I don't want t' go back to Culloden!" Jamie snapped.

Zoe's eyes suddenly widened in realization.

"Oh, I see…" she said.

"There is more at stake here than your feelings, McCrimmon," Salamander pointed out, overhearing the conversation. "We have limited time to get to Inverness. We cannot afford a detour."

Zoe looked down at the map.

"I don't think we should cut it close," she said. "But, at the same time…"

"Aye; I know what t' do," Jamie said, changing tactics. "Ye can go through Culloden, and the Doctor and I can go via Bogbain."

The Master scoffed

"The weather has gotten worse, and colder—with all that snow whipping about and reducing visibility, you would risk the chance of getting the Doctor lost in the cold at such a critical moment?"

Jamie froze; the Master had hit him where he was most vulnerable—his concern for the Doctor's well-being.

"Now, wait just a moment," the Doctor said. "I'm more than capable of handling that cold without getting lost. I have my fur coat; I anticipated a jaunt in the cold! If Jamie wants to go an alternate route—"

"No," the piper said. "It would be bad if something went wrong and the cold began to affect ye while we were separated from the others."

"Jamie, don't feel bullied into making this decision," the Doctor said.

"I'm fine," Jamie said. "Aye, we won' be lingering in Culloden anyway. It'll be best if we go together."

Both the Doctor and the Brigadier cast dark looks at the Master, who merely shrugged in response.

"I am merely thinking about the cause," he insisted.

"If I could only believe that…" the Brigadier muttered.

Even Victoria didn't say anything in the Master's defense this time; she, too, was beginning to think that he hadn't been thinking solely about the Doctor's well-being when he had spoken up.

As far as Jamie was concerned, it wasn't whether or not the Master was right; the Master clearly believed him to be too mentally weak to go through with traveling through Culloden. Jamie was determined to prove him wrong.

He ate the rest of his breakfast in silence. Regardless of where they would have to go, he would make the most of these next twenty-four hours with the Doctor and with the rest of his dear friends—just in case the end was coming.

* * *

It was an unpleasant walk as the team departed Castle McCrimmon. Though they had brought thick anoraks and were still wearing the plastic rainwear over them, the wind made the snow and ice feel like pinpricks as their faces remained exposed to the elements. Even the Doctor, who was using the thick yeti coat he had dragged along all this way for this express purpose, was suffering, prompting Jamie to keep his own face close to the Time Lord's in an attempt to shield him from the cold.

It was the Master who appeared to be suffering the most from the cold; Victoria was helping him along, talking to him to keep him alert.

Jamie didn't like it; he was more than content to just leave the Master in the snow and let him go into torpor, but he knew the Doctor would never agree to it. So, he bit his tongue and kept on walking.

The Doctor could sense Jamie's ire and did appreciate what the piper was putting up with. The Master never would think much of Jamie—no more than Jamie would ever think of him. And the Doctor knew that jealously was at the heart of it—even on Darkheart, the Master had wanted the Doctor to be on his side after revealing his true colors, yet the Doctor had refused, staying with Jamie. His past with the Master was undeniable—they had, after all, killed for each other. But they led separate lives now, on two different roads—roads that had only intersected at this critical juncture, and would diverge again if they were to succeed.

Jamie, on the other hand, was all about loyalty. All of his talk about being ready to die before betraying the Doctor was not simply idle bravado—more than once, the piper had been ready to prove it, and, more than once, he had come close to scaring the Time Lord out of his wits. Jamie had resisted Cyber-conversion and even possession by the Great Intelligence to prevent himself from betraying the Doctor, and, in the alternate universe, had been ready to die at the corrupted Doctor's hands if it would have meant saving him.

The memories of that alternate world sickened the Doctor—the thought that he, of all people, would have struck Jamie, fully ready to follow up that action with whatever method of swift and painful death his corrupted self would have come up with, was something that still haunted him. Never once, while converted or possessed, had Jamie—simple, human Jamie—even moved to harm him, but he—the great, clever Time Lord—had not been able to hold onto his true self to stop himself from hurting Jamie.

And Jamie had never once held it against him. After it was all over, Jamie had gone back to the way things were, not even showing a shred of fear towards him. The piper's love was truly unconditional.

There were few in the galaxy that the Doctor would blindly trust with his life and his TARDIS. But Jamie was one of those select few; even if he complained about Jamie fiddling with the console, he was fully prepared to have him take over if need be—as their bid to gain the three extra days had shown. Even though it hadn't come up recently, the Doctor would also have been ready to trust Jamie with the knowledge of his true name. Perhaps, if they made it out of this predicament, the Doctor would find the proper moment to tell him. And he knew it would change nothing.

The Doctor now pushed his thoughts aside as they continued forward. Zoe was keeping track of the time, announcing whenever an hour had passed. Periodically, they would stop and rest to catch their breath and brace themselves for continued trudging through the snow and ice, which was collecting on the ground; already, there was more than a foot of it, with more falling upon them.

The blanket of snow and ice changed the landscape as they walked. The fields and moors were unrecognizable for the most part, though Jamie had no trouble recognizing exactly where they were. And as the Doctor noticed the thousand-yard stare returning to his dear companion's eyes after so long, there was no mistaking where they were.

"Jamie?" he asked, softly.

The piper gave a nod, looking all around at the very ground upon which his life had changed so drastically. The ground, covered in snow and two hundred years older, was no longer red with the blood of those who had fallen here. But Jamie could still see the images in his mind's eye—thirteen years had not been enough to banish them.

The Doctor, who had been hiding his hands from the cold, now took a moment, to gently place a hand on the side of Jamie's face.

"I'm sorry, Jamie," he said, softly, and earnestly.

"I know."

It was as they began to see the memorial stones for the fallen families that Victoria now a moment to leave the Master's side and dart over to Jamie.

"Will you be alright?" she asked.

"Of course," the piper murmured. "I'll be just fine."

The Brigadier, no stranger to having seen comrades fall in battle, also took a moment to gently clap the piper on the shoulder.

"When this is all over," he said. "You can come back here. Give the fallen a proper salute."

Jamie nodded.

It was Zoe who struggled with what to say; though she was better with her emotions and empathy now, as opposed to when she had first met Jamie and the Doctor, she still wasn't sure that she would find the right thing to say in this situation. In the end, she took the Brigadier's lead and placed a hand on Jamie's other shoulder, silently lending him her moral support.

Salamander, of course, was absolutely silent and didn't acknowledge anything that was going on. The Master, on the other hand, looked at the battlefield all around them.

"Ironic, isn't it?" he said. "The precipitation that falls is what essentially gives life to this planet. And yet, the dead who are slumbering beneath this ground receive no benefit from the rain and snow."

"Is now really the time?" the Doctor chided.

"It is merely an observation," the Master returned. "There are more dead than alive on this planet. The humans' lives are so fleeting."

"And yet, they have made a great impact upon their planet," the Doctor reminded him.

"Even so, imagine what could occur if we could only harness life-giving precipitation to awaken the slumbering dead?" the Master mused.

"…You _are_ speaking hypothetically, of course?" the Brigadier insisted.

"Rest assured, I currently do not possess the means to achieve such a feat," the Master said.

"Nor shall you ever, I hope," the Doctor murmured. A gnawing feeling told him that, assuming they succeeded before the next dawn, the Master would eventually succeed with his dark musings—and that a future regeneration of the Doctor's would have to face the consequences.

The Doctor was jolted from his thoughts by Jamie's sudden cry; the piper left his side for the first time that day as he suddenly darted over to a large memorial stone with _McCrimmon_ carved upon it, just barely visible as the snow continued to bury the stone. Jamie angrily clawed away at the snow to reveal the stone properly.

"You see?" the Master said, quietly. "Reviving the dead would have its advantages, would it not?"

The Doctor shushed him and walked over to Jamie, tightly clutching his trembling shoulders. Nearby was a stone for the McLarens; Jamie cast a long glance at that stone, remembering Alexander, before turning back to the stone with his family name and quietly murmuring in front of it.

Despite the limited time they had left, the others respectfully maintained their silence—even Salamander, who had, up to this point, been completely apathetic towards Jamie, paused and silently watched the piper mourn for his family.

"You never did get any proper closure," the Doctor said, softly. "And that is my fault entirely. I'm sorry, Jamie—I truly am."

But Jamie clung to the Time Lord.

"Ye saved me," he reminded him. "I'd have been lying there with them had it nae been for ye. I cannae hold that against ye. I'm glad t' have this chance now."

The Doctor merely nodded, recalling that it was Jamie having prevented him from draining the Great Intelligence that had resulted in that horrible alternate timeline never happening.

"You saved me, too, Jamie," he said, after a moment. "And we've got one more thing left to do—to save the time vortex."

"Aye," Jamie said. "I know."

Zoe cleared her throat.

"Maybe we should go on ahead after all," she said. "Jamie, you and the Doctor can stay for a while—"

"No," the piper said, placing a hand gently on the stone. "No; I'm going with ye. There's still another six miles to Inverness, and I know the quickest way."

"Are you sure?" Victoria asked.

"Aye; it's like the Brigadier said—after we're finished, I can come back and pay my respects properly."

The Doctor gently gripped Jamie's shoulder again as they began to continue onward. Jamie cast one last look behind him at the stone as they left before clinging back to the Doctor again. Barely twelve hours remained until the vortex would explode. There could be no further delays.


	17. Night of the Final Day

The final leg of the journey was the slowest, vexing as it was—the clouds were bringing an early night, causing the temperature to fall even lower. The Master was resorting to using Victoria as a crutch—something which infuriated him.

"Your temperature is very low," Victoria said, as she placed a hand to the Master's forehead. "Jamie, how is the Doctor?"

"Doing better than the Master is," Jamie responded, still keeping his face close to the Doctor's. The Doctor was clinging to him, but wasn't depending on him to walk like the Master was depending on Victoria—partly due to the fur coat, and partly due to Jamie being in constant close proximity.

"This is exactly why I didn't want us to be out at night," the Brigadier murmured. "And it's already well past midnight! How much further do we need to go, McCrimmon?"

"It's nae far now," Jamie said.

"It is closer than you think," Salamander said. "We left the machine just outside the city—Maestro and I know the exact location." He glanced back at the Master, who was still being supported by Victoria just to walk forward. "…I will lead you now."

Jamie gave Salamander a piercing look.

"If this is a trap ye're leading us into…"

"Why would I seek to trap you when my life is also at stake?" Salamander reminded him. "You are not the only one who wants to live."

Jamie silently agreed to this, and followed Salamander while still clinging to the Doctor. The fierce wind was making it very difficult to progress further, but he still gritted his teeth and continued onward.

Suddenly, Salamander stopped dead, cursing in Spanish.

"What!?" Jamie asked. "Have we gone the wrong way!?"

"No! This is the right place!" Salamander insisted. "Maestro and I left the machine right here—and now it is gone!"

The Master cursed now, and waved his hand for Victoria to help him to where Salamander was standing.

"He is right," the Master said. "This is the right place; it is gone."

"Gone!?" sputtered the Brigadier. "Has someone stolen it!?"

"Impossible," the Master insisted. "We had secluded the machine here, obscuring it with shrubbery to ensure that no prying eyes would attempt to do anything with it."

"See," Salamander said, pointing at the snow with a flashlight. "There are the tracks of the wheels in the snow—and no footprints."

"That doesn't make any sense at all!" the Doctor huffed. "By that evidence, it would seem as though the machine left here of its own accord!"

The Master and Salamander briefly exchanged a glance with each other, and the Doctor's eyes narrowed for a moment before he turned to the Master.

"What did you do?" the Doctor asked, his voice as cold as the snow around them.

The Master responded with a slight shrug.

"We did program it with an AI—" he began, and the Doctor cut him off.

"Are you mad!?" the Doctor fumed. "After that disaster that happened back at the Academy, you'd try programming an AI again!?"

The Master shrugged again.

"It appears that the AI attempted to strengthen the feedback loop—and it decided to use the time vortex as part of that feedback loop to store the converted energy."

"Then it wasn't my fault!" Zoe exclaimed. "My prying into the iPad wasn't what caused the machine to act in such a way—the AI did that on its own!"

"Yes, just like back at the Academy!" the Doctor finished, still glaring at the Master. "Clearly, you learned nothing from that!"

"What exactly happened?" the Brigadier queried. "Or do I not want to know?"

"There's no time for that now," the Doctor said, waving a hand in the Brigadier's direction. "We need to find out where that machine has gotten to!"

The words had been barely out of the Doctor's mouth before the speed of the wind suddenly increased; a flash of lightning and crack of thunder overhead accompanied the increased wind gust.

"It would appear that the machine has found _us_," Salamander replied, glibly. He suddenly pointed to behind a snow drift where the tracks were heading. "Over there!"

They struggled against the wind, attempting to get around the snowbank. There, a wheeled machine was visible.

"This has gone far enough!" the Master said. "Initiate verbal command sequence: shutdown!"

The machine didn't respond; the chilling wind continued to blow all around them, much to the Master's chagrin.

"Shutdown!" the Time Lord roared over the howling wind. "You will obey me! _Shutdown_!"

"Negative," an electronic voice emanated from the machine. "Shutdown overridden. Continuing with current weather pattern."

Salamander now attempted to verbally shut the machine down, as well—in both English and Spanish, and received the same response from the AI.

The Brigadier, deciding that he'd had enough of the machine's replies, attempted to shoot it.

"Strengthening weather pattern as defensive strategy," the machine replied, and the speed of the wind increased.

"And so, once again, your usual standby is just as effective as it always is!" the Master chided the Brigadier.

"I don't see you attempting to use that shrinking device of yours!" the Brigadier countered.

"It is a _Tissue_ Compression Eliminator!" the Master reminded him. "The machine has no tissue to compress!"

Salamander, in the meantime, was trying to use his iPad to wirelessly transmit the input code, and his vexed expression was a clear indication of his failure.

"It is not accepting remote instructions at all!" Salamander fumed. "It is completely unresponsive!"

"Then we have no other choice!" the Doctor called over the wind. "We have to manually input the code on the control panel to override the AI!"

The machine responded to this by upping the wind speed even further; the ice particles tore into their rainwear and anoraks, exposing them to the full fury of the weather as the holes in their protective gear grew larger. The Master was brought to his knees from the cold; not even Victoria's support could keep him up, and she was holding onto him to prevent being carried away by the wind. Zoe nearly went flying backwards; the Brigadier was keeping her from flying off by holding onto her arm, not daring to let her go for fear that the wind would whisk her away.

"It's up to the rest of you!" he roared, as he braced himself against the wind. "Stop that thing!"

"The Master is falling unconscious!" Victoria cried, realizing that he was no longer able to aid them. "I can't keep him awake!"

"It's torpor! Stay with him, Victoria—try to stop his temperature from going any lower!" the Doctor exclaimed. His fur coat, built for the coldest climates, was the one piece of protective clothing still staying intact, keeping him from the same fate. "Jamie! We have to stop that thing!"

"Aye, but how!?"

"We have to corner it and put in the code in the control panel!" Salamander yelled.

With the others unable to move, the Doctor, Jamie, and Salamander now made a move towards the machine. The machine responded by retreating backwards, wheeling away from them.

"This isnae working!" Jamie said.

"Go around from behind!" the Doctor said, softly.

"Are ye sure? What aboot ye?"

"I'll be alright with my coat," the Doctor promised. "Salamander, follow me!"

For once, his doppelganger didn't question him; as Jamie snuck around the back of a snow drift, the Doctor and Salamander charged towards the machine as fast as they could against the wind.

The machine now focused on increasing the wind speeds, sending even more shards of ice at everyone. Though the Doctor's coat withstood the ice, the twine holding his coat closed did not. With a slight snap that was inaudible over the howling wind, the twine came loose, and the wind blew the fur coat right off of the Doctor's shoulders, smacking Salamander—who was directly behind him—right in the face and throwing him off-balance.

Now in only his usual shabby shirt, trousers, and frock coat against the unbearable cold, the Doctor dropped to the snow like a stone, unable to move any further. Torpor would come soon.

"NO!" Jamie cried. Shock and fear turned to anger against the machine. This had just gotten personal. "_Creag an Tuire_!"

Even as the machine turned to and attempted to veer off to the side to escape, the piper had anticipated it. He was already in mid-tackle, and landed on top of the machine. The machine veered and spun around rapidly, trying to throw him off, but Jamie gripped onto it, shifting his weight so that the machine would topple over. At last, it tilted up on two wheels, wobbling precariously for a moment, before crashing over.

He remembered the code that the Doctor and the others had told him; pressing it into the control panel, he hit the enter button.

"Weather pattern altered," the machine responded. "Accessing data cloud. Making necessary adjustments."

A multicolored rift began to appear in the sky directly over the machine; recognizing it as the vortex opening up as it had done on Neo Serenity, Jamie knew what was coming. He clambered off of the machine, crawling through the snow towards the fallen Doctor as the wind now changed to suction as snow began to rise from the ground, heading for the open vortex. As the snow entered the vortex, it began to displace the pent-up energy inside, which began to scatter across time and space—wherever it belonged. The suction increased, the snow now whipping upwards in a reverse blizzard.

"Doctor!" Jamie exclaimed, as he finally reached the Time Lord's side.

But the Doctor was unconscious; as Jamie looked around, he could see that the others were either unconscious or exhausted, pressing themselves to the ground to avoid getting caught in the vortex's suction.

As his own adrenaline began to wear off, Jamie clung to the Doctor as he, too, began to slip into darkness once more, hoping that he had done all that he had been supposed to do.

**Epilogue: Dawn of a New Day**

Jamie awoke to the sound of birdsong and the sensation of sunlight on his face and grass touching his skin. Opening his eyes, he blinked as his vision focused on the Doctor, clad in his fur coat and standing nearby, bending over the unconscious Brigadier and searching through the soldier's pockets for something.

Jamie blinked, surprised to see the Doctor doing that; it was most unlike him, especially when the Brigadier and Zoe were both unconscious in front of him. Why wasn't he helping them?

Jamie tried to sit up, but then paused as he realized that he was clinging to someone. Turning to the side, he saw the Doctor beside him, still unconscious but stirring slightly, in his normal shabby clothes.

He stared at the Doctor for a moment, and then looked back to the other Doctor, who had now pulled the vortex manipulator from the Brigadier's pocket. And he suddenly realized that it wasn't the Doctor after all.

"Salamander!" Jamie yelled, angrily tackling him.

Salamander responded by wriggling out of the Doctor's fur coat and rolling to the side, turning back to the piper, who was left holding only the coat.

"_Hasta luego_, McCrimmon!" he taunted. Before Jamie could make another move, Salamander pressed a button on the vortex manipulator, vanishing on the spot.

Jamie let out a yell of frustration, and then quickly looked around to make sure that the Master hadn't vanished, either. Thankfully, he had not; he was still unconscious, with Victoria close by. Refusing to let him escape, as well, Jamie used the broken twine that was around the fur coat to bind the Master's hands behind his back.

Satisfied, the piper returned to the Doctor's side, gently bundling him in his coat and holding him close to warm him up. He soon realized that this effort wasn't needed; it was a warm, summer morning, and the Doctor was slowly coming out of torpor as his body temperature warmed up once again.

"Hullo," the Time Lord said, with a smile, as he looked up at Jamie. "You succeeded, then?"

Jamie smiled back.

"Aye, it seems so."

"I knew I could count on you, Jamie," the Doctor said. "I never doubted that for a moment. Help me up; we need to awaken the others."

"Aye, but… Salamander's escaped," the piper said, as he helped the Doctor up. "He woke up and stole his vortex manipulator from the Brigadier."

"Well, if I know our luck, it shan't be the last time we'll see Salamander," the Doctor sighed. "But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it…" He trailed off, seeing the Master tied up. "…That was your doing?"

"I'm nae letting him escape, too," Jamie insisted.

The Doctor merely shrugged and helped Jamie revive the others. Zoe took a moment to appreciate the warm sun and green grass; the Brigadier took custody of the Master, as Victoria watched on.

"You won't hurt him, will you?" Victoria asked.

"No need to worry about it, Miss Waterfield," the Brigadier said. "We will treat him humanely."

"And I will find my way out soon enough," the Master assured her.

The Brigadier was not amused, and decided not to continue the subject.

"Now all we need is a way back…" he began, and trailed off as he heard the sound of a vehicle approaching. "…That's one of ours!"

The UNIT vehicle soon arrived, revealing Captain Yates and Sergeant Benton inside. They saluted the Brigadier.

"We headed for Inverness as soon as the storm cleared," Yates said. "It's quite remarkable how all the snow and water vanished like that; it took no time at all to get here. It's as though it never happened."

"Oh, but it did happen," the Doctor said. "I don't know how you'll explain it to the rest of the world, though."

"That will be attended to later," the Brigadier stated. "Right now, we've got to get the Master to a holding cell—"

He was cut off by a familiar _vwoorp-vwoorp-vwoorp_ as the Doctor's TARDIS now materialized beside them.

"I didn't use the Stattenheim…!" the Doctor began, and then his eyes widened as he realized what was going on. "Oh, _no_! He's come back!"

Sure enough, the tall, white-haired Doctor now emerged from interior of the TARDIS, followed by a woman with blonde hair.

"Will someone kindly explain to me what is going on?" the older Doctor demanded. "One minute, I find myself nearly fading from existence, and then it stops. I return to UNIT and find everyone talking about Salamander and the Master having a weather machine here in Inverness…" He scowled as he took notice of Jamie's Doctor. "So, _you_ are mixed up in this, as well! I might have known!"

Jamie's Doctor merely scowled right back before giving a warm look to the blonde woman.

"It's a pleasure to see _you_ again, Jo," he said. "Pity I cannot say the same about myself!"

Jo gave a nervous smile.

"It's nice to see you again… I mean, this version of you," she said, hoping they weren't going to fight again.

"Doctor, is that really you?" Victoria asked, looking at the older Doctor.

"Unfortunately," both Doctors chorused, and then proceeded to glare at each other again.

"Well, one thing is good," Jamie said. "The fact that the older Doctor is here means that everything is back t' normal. All his other selves will have come back, too."

"Forgive me for not celebrating," the Master grunted.

"It looks as though I'm here just in time," the older Doctor said. "I'll take him from here, Brigadier."

"All the same, I ought to stay with the both of you," the soldier replied, skeptical about the whole idea.

"If you insist," the Doctor sighed. "We can take him back in my TARDIS; I'll have what we need to make sure he won't escape."

"Good," the Brigadier said. "Yates, Benton; I'm leaving the both of you in charge of taking custody of that weather machine—or what's left of it."

The two saluted and got to work.

"And as for you," the Brigadier said, turning to the younger Doctor and his companions. "Shall you be returning with us to UNIT HQ?"

"Not as long as _he_ is there!" the younger Doctor insisted, still glaring at his older self. "We've got some things left to take care of here in Scotland, anyway."

"Yes, that's right," the Brigadier said, remembering their walk through Culloden. "All the best for that."

The older Doctor's expression softened; he placed a hand on Jamie's shoulder.

"They'll be quite proud of you, Jamie," he said, gently. "I know I always was—still am, actually."

"Finally—something we can agree on," the younger Doctor said, placing his hand on Jamie's other shoulder.

"Oh, so _you're_ Jamie?" Jo asked. "He never stops talking about you; I feel as though I know you already!"

"Aye, really?" Jamie asked. He cast a smug look at the Master. "He ne'er stops talking aboot me. Imagine that."

It was the Master's turn to scowl now, looking determinedly elsewhere as the older Doctor now warmly greeted Zoe and Victoria.

After a brief chat, it was time for the older Doctor to return to UNIT; he, Jo, the Brigadier, and the Master soon departed in his TARDIS as Yates and Benton finished loading the weather machine into the UNIT vehicle and started back the long way.

The younger Doctor, pleased now that his older self had left, used the Stattenheim remote control to summon his TARDIS and turned to his three companions.

"Shall we?" he said, softly.

The three humans looked at each other and headed inside the welcoming console room.

* * *

It was a somber and moving hour spent at Culloden, in front of the McCrimmon grave marker. Jamie played the bagpipes for his family and for the McLarens; the Doctor and the girls placed flowers there and respectfully stood back and listened.

When they left, Jamie had felt as though a burden had been lifted from his shoulders. Closure was something he had needed, and was glad to have finally gotten it.

"That was very lovely, Jamie," Victoria said.

"It was wrong of me not to let you do that thirteen years ago," the Doctor said.

"I'm just glad I got t' do it now," Jamie assured him.

"You will be alright?" Zoe asked.

"Aye," the piper agreed. "And now I guess we're off on the next adventure?"

"Well," the Doctor said, thoughtfully. "I think there's still a lot more for us to see here in Scotland."

Jamie perked up at this.

"Can we stay here for some more time?" he asked, excited.

"Certainly," the Doctor grinned. "You can put us up in your castle!"

"Aye, of course," Jamie laughed.

"I think that's a wonderful idea!" Victoria said.

"Yes, there's such a rich history here!" Zoe agreed.

"Good—it's settled, then!" the Doctor said, as he led them inside the TARDIS again. "I'll just find a nice place in the castle to leave the Old Girl…" They held on to the console as they dematerialized and rematerialized moments later. "Right here in the Great Hall seems to be best."

Eagerly, they stepped outside the TARDIS and into Castle McCrimmon's Great Hall again.

"It's changed!" Zoe exclaimed.

"Changed?" Jamie asked.

"Yes, look around you!" the astrophysicist said. "The last time we were here, this place looked abandoned and not very well maintained at all."

"She's right—it looks so much better now," Victoria agreed.

"Well, since his future was once again in order, it would seem that the Laird of Castle McCrimmon was able to keep the castle well," the Doctor said. "That's his portrait over the fireplace—and legend has it that the other fellow in that portrait is the sorcerer who spirited him away, over and over again on his many visits to the castle."

"Oh, Doctor…!" Zoe said, placing her hands on her hips.

"It's a nice likeness of the both of you," Victoria giggled.

Jamie folded his arms.

"Ye think so?" he asked. "I look so old—all those lines on my face, and my hair color lost. The Doctor hasnae changed, but I certainly have aged."

"That's right…" the Doctor said, his eyes widening. "That's right! Jamie, you _do_ look old!"

The piper let out a baffled squawk as the Doctor hugged him in joy.

"Why does that please ye so much?"

"Oh, Jamie, don't you realize what it means?" Zoe said. "If that portrait is of an old man, then an old man had to pose for that portrait. And that old man is you—still with the Doctor, after so many years."

"Ohhhhh!" the piper exclaimed, as he finally caught on.

"Yes!" the Doctor exclaimed. "And, even better, I'm still me; I haven't regenerated yet!"

Victoria and Zoe exchanged glances as the Doctor and Jamie began to dance around the Great Hall in utter joy.

"_What_ are we going to do with those two?" Victoria asked, shaking her head in amusement.

"Try to keep them in line," Zoe answered. "And probably fail miserably."

Victoria nodded, giggling as the dance now turned into a spontaneous recorder-and-bagpipes celebration duet.

And as for the Doctor and Jamie, their hearts were filled with joy and anticipation as they played. After spending the last few days uncertain of their future, they now knew they were headed for one that was bright and fulfilling—together.

**The End**

* * *

_Notes: And, it's done! Thanks so much to everyone who followed this! My next project will be a crossover, so check back for that at the end of August. Until then, I'll be working on my 6B and Legacy vignette series_.


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